By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty
Michael Zheng’s spirited Grand Slam qualifying tour has come to positive end.
Ivy League standout Michael Zheng grew up playing on New York City’s hard courts and has grown into a gritty pro qualifying for three consecutive Grand Slam main draws.
Today, New Jersey native Zheng received a wild card into the US Open main draw.
The US Open main draw starts on Sunday, August 30th.
The 2022 Wimbledon boys’ finalist and two-time NCAA champion at Columbia, Zheng qualified for his third straight Grand Slam at Roehampton in June then knocked off Cameron Norrie en route to the Wimbledon third round, losing to fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime on Centre Court. Zheng, who grew up in Montvillle, N.J., spent his younger years training in Queens. Last year, Zheng lost in the second round of US Open qualifying.
Zheng and acrobatic Frenchman Gael Monfils, who announced this 18th US Open start is his final Flushing Meadows appearance, lead the list of US Open men’s wild cards.
The 39-year-old Monfils, a wildly popular player in New York City, will make this his last US Open dance. Monfils, who announced he will retire at the conclusion of the 2026 season, has enjoyed success at the Flushing Meadows major.
In 2016, Monfils scored straight-sets wins over Nicolas Almagro, Marcos Baghdatis and Lucas Pouille to reach the US Open semifinals where he lost to Novak Djokovic. It was one of two Grand Slam semifinals Monfils has made in his career. Three years later, Monfils advanced to the US Open quarterfinal suffering a gut-wrenching 7-6(5) in the fifth-set loss to Matteo Berrettini.
Devoted Flushing Meadows fans will recall Monfils building a two-set lead over Roger Federer in an electrifying 2014 US Open quarterfinal before the Swiss Maestro rallied for a pulsating five-set victory. In that clash, Monfils, chugging Coca-Cola on changeovers, hit some spectacular flying forehands and dueled 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer in a shot-making festival. A reminder of that magical night here:
The 2016 US Open champion Stan Wawrinka is not among the wild card recipients though the tournament has one more men’s wild card to allocate. The 41-year-old Swiss played Estoril on red clay last month.
The Qualifying tournament will be played August 24-27 on the National Tennis Center’s field courts, with all matches free to attend during Fan Week.
US Open Men’s Singles Wild Cards:
MAIN DRAW
- Martin Damm, 22, current world No. 94
- Michael Zheng, 22, two-time reigning NCAA men’s singles champion
- J.J. Wolf, 27, US Open Wild Card Challenge Winner
- Sebastian Gorzny, 22, American Collegiate Player Wild Card Playoff Winner
- Jack Kennedy, 18, USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion
- Gael Monfils, 39, awarded via reciprocal agreement with FFT
- Alexei Popyrin, 27, awarded via reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia
- To Be Announced
QUALIFYING
- Jordan Lee, 16, USTA Boys’ 18s singles finalist, Wimbledon boys’ champion
- Trevor Svajda, 20, American Collegiate Player Wild Card Playoff finalist
- Kei Nishikori, 36, 2014 US Open men’s singles finalist
- Andre Ilagan, 25, current world No. 210, US Open Wild Card Challenge runner-up
- Spencer Johnson, 23, current world No. 445
- Michael Antonius, 16, Roland Garros boys’ singles finalist, current junior world No. 3
- Andrew Johnson, 16, USTA Boys’ 18s singles semifinalist, current junior No. 12
- Daniel Milavsky, 24, current world No. 310
- US Open Qualifying Wild Card Challenge Winner
The US Open Qualifying Wild Card Challenge is a new competition featuring rising American men and women competing for a wild card in the US Open Qualifying Tournament.
The Challenge will feature four men and four women competing in six total matches – men’s and women’s semifinals and finals – with the winners receiving a wild card into Qualifying August 24-27. Matches will begin at 10 a.m. on August 23 and will be played on Courts 4-7 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
US Open Qualifying Wild Card Challenge Men’s Field:
- Keaton Hance, 18, Top-5 junior, 2026 Australian Open boys’ singles finalist
- Jack Secord, 17, USTA Boys’ 18s singles semifinalist
- Ozan Baris, 22, former top-ranked collegiate singles player
- Dali Blanch, 23, former world junior No. 4
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