New Jersey native Michael Zheng playing on home court at U.S. Open

Tennis players come to New York City from all over the world to practice at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, but for Michael Zheng, it's home.

Zheng grew up in Montville, New Jersey, and played at Columbia University, but his connection to the Queens courts started long before then.

"This is a place where I grew up playing. It's one of the first places I started training, basically since I was 9 years old up to when I was around 12," he said.

Now, at the age of 22, he's back on those same courts as one of the final 32 men at the U.S. Open.

He's one of 15 Americans in the third round; that's the most Americans in the third round in 24 years.

"There's a good culture going on, you know," Zheng said. "People are pushing each other together, they're training together, so when you see other people improving and doing well and you're training with them, it makes you believe that you can make a run, too."

On the same courts where he learned to play tennis, now he's learning how far he can go.

Zheng's chance to make it to the round of 16 comes Saturday.

The U.S. Open runs through Sept. 13. The full schedule can be found at USOpen.org.