THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 29, 2026

Michael Zheng

Press Conference

M. ZHENG/C. Norrie

6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Thoughts on the match. It was a dog fight, college dog fight.

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, for sure. It was kind of what I was expecting going into the match. I think Norrie is pretty well known for competing really well, and yeah, I mean, he's had that college experience, so I knew it was going to be a battle.

Yeah, I thought the level was really high throughout the match, not too many breaks of serve. I thought I was serving really well, and it was kind of really was just a few points here and there.

Q. He said just a few minutes ago he was surprised by his backhand to your forehand exchanges. He felt like you were handling those really well and also that you really rose to the moment, particularly in the final-set tiebreaker.

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, for sure. You know, that was kind of one of the main things we were focusing on. We knew he had that really flat backhand. Just in the practice, was working with my coach, Ruan, on those low flat balls and either trying to change direction or going hard back cross.

I think, like you said, those first two tiebreaks kind of got away from me. And in the last one, I thought I just played a little more free and hit some really solid shots in big moments, which helped me, I think.

Q. What's it mean to qualify for all the majors this year, just in terms of your own sense of being a pro? College is done?

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, now I guess this is the first one where, I guess a little bit in French, but I don't have to worry about school anymore. I just can play free and focus on the tennis, which is just a little bit of a load off the mind.

Yeah, as much as like school has helped me, I think it's good now to focus on just playing tennis, playing free.

Yeah, it's been amazing start to the year, half year, to, as you said, qualify for all the slams and hope to keep that going into the US Open.

Q. How much have you played on grass, and what's your relationship with grass?

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, I haven't played that much on grass since juniors. I played Newport last year since it got moved to a challenger, and then, you know, I played two warm-up tournaments leading up to Wimbledon. I did end up losing first round in both of those, but it was pretty close matches against two good players.

I did well in juniors, but other than that, I haven't played too much on grass.

Q. What adjustments do you make to your game when you're on grass?

MICHAEL ZHENG: I'd say just looking to make more first serves. I think the serve is really important on grass. I think once you see your opponent stretched out a little bit, it's easier to just rush to the net. Coming in is easier. Balls stay a little bit lower, so you have to stay a little bit lower. The slices go through the court more.

I think kind of just a few minor adjustments. I think my game suits grass pretty well. It's hard to, I'd say, get the ball out of your opponent's strike zones, so the heavier balls don't work as much on grass. So I feel like when the ball is in the zone, my ball striking is pretty good, I think.

Q. What kind of things are you able to take from the time at college into these kind of matches where it is such a college dog fight, as you said?

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, I think college tennis, the atmosphere, you know, when you're playing on a court like this and you're playing a British player who is the home favorite, I think college prepares you really well for that. Like, all the away games you go to, everyone is cheering against you. Just how do you deal with that kind of atmosphere that, pressure.

And in college, there is no ad points, the deuce points. Just focusing on early on in the games, trying not to let it get too close, otherwise you're facing breakpoints. I think Norrie does it really well, just starting off the games, getting up in the games, and trying to avoid getting too many deuce situations.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the Michael Zheng before college and the Michael Zheng after college?

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, I mean, I think I have developed a lot since, you know, four years ago, coming into college. You know, give a lot of credit to our head coach, Howie, and went through a lot of assistant coaches and our current coach, Assistant Coach Ismael, and the strength coach, Coach Sheehan back in school. I think they have done a really great job just kind of preparing me to kind of take on the pro tour.

Four years ago I knew I wasn't ready just physically for the week in, week out grind of the tour, and I think the past four years, I developed a lot on that front.

So I think now I'm ready to give the pro tour a shot.

Q. As a pro now, what will your setup look like? Will those guys still be in the picture for your traveling team? What's that look like for you?

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, I keep in touch with them a lot. I think I have been traveling a lot with my Coach Ruan right now. I started working with him last summer, basically, the beginning of the summer, and we have kind of taken off from there. I think I was ranked around 700, something like that, at the beginning of the summer last year, and now closing in on the top 100. You know, we have had a good run together so far, and hope to keep that going into the US Open and beyond.

Q. The top 100, is that a big goal for the next couple weeks, months?

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, I think that's just a goal every player has, it's almost that milestone of kind of making it on the pro tour. You know, you ask anyone, you know, what constitutes making it on the pro tour, I think most people would say if you break in the top 100. I think that's where you really start making money and making a living on tour.

Q. What were the highlights of the end of college career for you last semester? What were the memorable moments?

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, I think last semester was a little bit tough for me. After I had that run in Australia, I was a little bit hurt, so I missed kind of some of the early matches on. First couple of matches I was a little bit hurt.

Then I think it was a little bit tough, honestly, in my mind to be motivated in that last season. I was just trying to enjoy it, to be honest, as much as possible, enjoy that last semester of school. Then knowing I was going to be done and then just looking to play free on the pro tour.

Q. I didn't mean necessarily on the court. School.

MICHAEL ZHENG: Yeah, it was fun. It was definitely not easy. I was still traveling a lot, I got a couple of wildcards into some of the ATP tournaments, so I was missing a lot of school. We were on the road a lot, but I still found it really enjoyable, made new friends. And classes actually ended up going pretty well, despite missing a lot.

But yeah, it was a fun last semester, I'd say.

Q. On the Next Gen Accelerator, could you talk a little bit about that and your experience with that? You won first challenger title through a Next Gen spot. Talk about that and the importance of it.

MICHAEL ZHENG: I think the Next Gen Accelerator is a really solid pathway to help the college players, and I think juniors, as well. Kind of just when their level is there, you can skip the futures grind, which is I think not easy. You have to win quite a lot of futures kind of to get into the challenger level, and I feel like a lot of the top college players are ready to take on the challenger level.

Just helping them kind of skip that couple of months, maybe even half a year of just grinding through futures, helps a lot financially and just give them the confidence to go out there, get used to the level, and yeah, I think you'll see more and more of the college players taking off once they use those spots and are playing these tournaments.