By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Tuesday was one of those magic nights at the U.S. Open qualifying tournament.
The “tournament before the tournament” is the centerpiece of the U.S. Tennis Association’s “Fan Week” where players scratch tooth and nail for the chance to get into the 128-player main draw of men’s singles and women’s singles. Admission, as tradition, is free and usually accounts for entertaining and unique atmospheres at close matches being watched by overly enthusiastic fans.
On adjacent courts No. 13 and No. 14 Tuesday night at the conclusion of the opening round of the qualifying tournament, two three-set matches were taking place. Both matches featured full bleachers and stands jam-packed on every corner with voracious cheers and chants being emitted by entertained fans.
On Court 13, local standout Michael Zheng of Montville, N.J., and Columbia University was the attraction. The NCAA singles runner-up from May was receiving tremendous crowd support from local New Jersey residents as well as fans of the Columbia Lions, many wearing Columbia’s light blue colors, including a group of young kids who led the “Let’s Go Michael” chants. With standing room that in places looked to be three deep, there were probably 800 people watching, much more than who watched Zheng play in the NCAA singles final in Stillwater, Oklahoma earlier this year.
Zheng was locked in a battle with Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, ranked No. 183 in the world, as the two exchanged lengthy baseline exchanges. Zheng, ranked No. 925 on the ATP computer but ready for his junior year at Columbia, staved off his opponent serving for a straight-sets win and won a second-set tiebreaker 7-5 to force a third set.
The match had the attention of David Waldstein of the New York Times, who was watching the match intently from the southeast corner of the court, sitting on a steel bleacher. He and I discussed the history of Columbia tennis and the U.S. Open, Waldstein stating that the last Columbia Lion player to play in the U.S. Open main draw was Phil Williamson from back in 1987 and 1991, although he was already out of school. I told Waldstein that the great Vitas Gerulaitis also was a former Columbia University student, however, I described his tenure as a Columbia Lion as lasting “only a beer and half” which garnered a chuckle.
Zheng reached his moment of truth when he stood on the baseline ready to serve for the match in the third set. Nerves, no doubt, and some physical distress got to him and after fighting off a few break points, he finally relented to his Polish opponent, who broke back to even the final set at 5-5. The Pole’s moment of survival was meant with a strange blanket of silence from the heavily pro-Zheng crowd.
The lone encouraging fan for Majzhrzak in the crowd was Jan Zielinski, another Polish player who happens to have won the Australian and Wimbledon mixed doubles titles this year. “He is my best friend,” Zielinkski told me later of Majzhrzak.
After Zheng failed to serve out the match, all the air and crowd excitement disappeared. Zheng lost the last 10 points of the match to lose by a final margin of 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5.
Despite the crushing loss, Zheng met with all the fans who approached him and signed autographs and posed for numerous photos, wrestling a smile for the camera despite the heart-ache of the defeat he just suffered. Adam Zagoria from Forbes.com and NJ.com, himself a New Jersey resident, followed Zheng off the court and spoke to him for his story as you can read here: https://www.nj.com/sports/2024/08/nj-native-michael-zheng-inspires-legion-of-young-fans-despite-us-open-qualifying-loss.html
While Zheng and Majzhrzak were entangled in their match-up, on the very next court, Alexandra Eala, the greatest tennis player to come out of the Philippines, was stretching out a third set lead against Australia’s Maddison Inglis. Most of the fans who surrounded the court shoulder-to-shoulder looked to be of Filipino descent and they were not shy to show their pleasure when Eala won a point. The enthusiasm that she received when she won a point was probably more pronounced here in Queens than perhaps if she was playing for her nation in Billie Jean King Cup competition.
Eala, ranked No. 148 in the world, closed out the No. 226-ranked Inglis 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 and was met with a roar from the fans around the court. After the post-match handshake, Eala proceeded to engage with her zealous fans. Iphones sprung up from the encircling fans, each trying to catch a selfie photo with Eala in frame. I tried to get some photos but was quickly drown out by another flurry of fans. Then, someone passed their baby to Eala for her to cuddle and pose for a photo.
The interactions continued until Eala probably realized she had to make an exit. The U.S. Open security guards had their work cut out for them to give Eala the space to exit the court as fans still clamored to capture a selfie with the Filipino tennis warrior. Eala tried to continue to smile for each photo attempt but the security guards rushed her around the back end of the court to avoid another mass of fans waiting for her. One had to think, was this Alexandra Eala or Taylor Swift they were bellowing for?
