Columbia’s Michael Zheng comes full circle as Americans advance at US Open

Michael Zheng spent years making the long trek from northern New Jersey, first by bus across the Hudson River to the Port Authority bus terminal and then nearly the full length of the No 7 subway line, all for the opportunity to train at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The 22-year-old American wildcard and two-time NCAA champion from nearby Columbia University brushed aside Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to win his rain-interrupted US Open debut, providing one of the more unlikely highlights on a busy day for the home contingent in New York. Playing before a vocal crowd of his college teammates and alumni who splashed the intimate confines of Court 10 with blue and white, Zheng needed only 1hr 51min to dispatch of the world No 63, breaking five times and dropping serve only once.