NCAA Singles Tournament Boasts Two Dwight Global Alumni

At this year’s 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship, which took place from May 20-25, Dwight Global Online School alumni Michael Zheng ’22 of Columbia and Cooper Williams ’23 of Harvard battled their way up the singles ranks, with two historic finishes.

Zheng, as a sophomore at Columbia, advanced to the NCAA Singles Finals, ultimately taking the runner-up spot after a thrilling three sets. Zheng is the first singles player from the university’s prestigious tennis program to play in the national championship, capping off his season with the best performance in the NCAA Singles bracket in program history. In addition to being named an All-American for the second year in a row, Zheng’s season ended with a top-ten national ranking. Zheng and Williams were named to the 2024 USTA collegiate team.

As a senior at Dwight Global Online School, Zheng advanced to 2022 Wimbledon Boys Singles Finals and competed at the 2022 Boys U.S. Open. Zheng will be back at the U.S. Open in August, having secured a spot in the qualifying draw for the second-straight year.

Williams, playing the one position at Harvard as a Freshman, had a stunning first collegiate season, advancing to the Quarter-Finals in the NCAA championships. Williams led Harvard Men’s Tennis to its highest ranking in program history, #6 in the Nation, qualifying for its first ITA National Indoors, beating Columbia in the first round. Williams, with partner Danny Milavsky, were the highest ranked doubles team from Harvard since 2005. Williams earned the prestigious 2024 ITA Rookie of the Year in addition to being an All-American —the first Harvard men's player to do so since James Blake in 1998. He also made his mark as the highest ranked freshman tennis player in the U.S. this year, earning a rank as high as #9 in Singles and #5 in Doubles. Williams will continue next year at Duke University where he will pursue both a collegiate and professional schedule. 

Williams joined Dwight Global in middle school after competing in the internationally prestigious Les Petits As, where he won the Doubles event. He pursued an academically rigorous curriculum at Dwight Global to prepare him for a top college. As a Junior player attending Dwight Global, Williams reached a career high ITF rank of #3, 2023 Australian Open Doubles Champion, 2023 Singles and Doubles Quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, 2023 Wimbledon Juniors Singles Semi-Finalist and Doubles Quarterfinalist, and 2023 Singles Quarterfinalist US Open Juniors. 

Dwight Global Online School, the Official Education Partner of the ITF, is well known among college admissions officers nationwide as a place that prepares students to succeed academically. The online school’s flexibility and support provide athletes with the winning setup to maximize student time, allowing them to train and compete at the highest levels.