A 21 year old tennis player who won his first round Australian Open match might not be able to accept his winning prize money of AUS $225,000.
Michael Zheng who studies at Columbia became the first Columbian Lion to win a national college singles title since 1906. He continued that form going into the 2025 Australian Open where he cruised through the qualifiers to set up a first-round tie with Sebastian Korda who is ranked globally at 53.
Zheng went onto beat him in a five-set thriller despite winning his first two sets, exceeded expectations after causing the upset. The celebrations didn’t last long though as the American may not be able to take his winnings due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition earing rules.
There has been a lot of confusion around the rules for college athletes in the US ever since the rule change happened back in 2021 which allowed them to earn money through certain means such as their name. However, they still couldn’t earn any more than $10,000 through competitions.
This has even caused current athletes to be confused with Michael Zheng left unsure if he’ll be allowed his prize money. He said: “I don’t know. I’ve heard rumours I’m allowed to take it because it’s my senior spring. But you know, I want to make sure there’s nothing wrong with eligibility if I take it. I don’t want to get in trouble or anything. So yeah, I’ll talk to Howie, our head coach, and I’ll try to figure that out after.”
This has cause outrage on X with one user saying:
“The split screen of one college athlete (Carson Beck) describing how he doesn’t go to class and makes $5 million while the other college athlete (Michael Zheng) attends Columbia, grinds through a 5-set win and cannot accept his relatively modest Australian Open prize money.”
Another user posted this:
“Michael Zheng absolutely needs to turn pro after this… there’s no reason for him to continue at college at this point, absolutely nothing to gain.”
After this outrage the NCAA should have a look at their rules or risk losing many athletes who would’ve gone to college but decide to go pro instead.
