Melbourne ¨C American rising star Michael Zheng faces the prospect of giving back his Australian Open prize money as a college student, but is hoping a concession can be made.
The 21-year-old, who is yet to turn professional, came through qualifying at Melbourne Park before stunning former quarterfinalist Sebastian Korda in a first-round, five-set thriller.
His exploits so far have earned him at least 225,000 Australian dollars ($150,000), a total that which will soar even higher should he beat 32nd seed Corentin Moutet in the second round.
But U.S. college tennis rules state that he can only earn a maximum of $10,000 in prize money from tournaments per year.
¡°I still have one more semester at Columbia (University), which I do intend to finish,¡± said Zheng, a senior psychology major. ¡°So whenever my run here is done, I¡¯m going back to school.
¡°But, yeah, I¡¯ll talk to our head coach and try to figure out what¡¯s the deal with the prize money, if I¡¯m allowed to take it or not.
¡°I¡¯ll try to figure that out after the tournament is over, I think.
¡°I¡¯ve heard rumors I¡¯m allowed to take it, because it¡¯s my senior spring,¡± he added.
¡°But I want to double-check ... I don¡¯t want to get in trouble or anything.¡±
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