College tennis star behind prize money lawsuit, Reese Brantmeier, wins NCAA championship
“A few people have pointed it out to me,” she said, before taking on a more serious tone in a Sunday afternoon interview.
“This title is so meaningful, this is the pinnacle of college tennis,” she said. “It’s a great accomplishment, independent of some of our legal disagreements.”
Brantmeier, 21, is arguably the most famous player in college tennis. The University of North Carolina player is lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NCAA, which aims to overturn the rule prohibiting tennis players from collecting prize money above $ 10,000 per year at professional tournaments.
A senior with a double major in exercise science and studio art, and a minor in global cinema, Brantmeier filed the lawsuit last year, calling out the organization for hypocrisy over student-athletes’ ability to sign name, image and likeness (NIL) deals while unable to keep the money that they win in competition.
A quarterback, or any other sort of athlete, can collect a seven-figure payment for having their picture appear on a billboard, or for signing autographs at a local car dealership, but a tennis player who wants to keep their college ability cannot keep all of the prize money that they might win at the U.S. Open, or any other professional tournament.
Brantmeier’s suit will not go to trial until late 2026, but in August, U.S. Chief District Judge Catherine Eagles ruled in favor of Brantmeier and Maya Joint, another college player who is now a WTA Tour mainstay, and certified two groups of potential plaintiffs for class action.
The first includes any player who has competed in Division I tennis since March 19, 2020, or who could not compete because of NCAA prize money restrictions. The court order stated that it could include as many as 12,000 players. Then there are players who gave up prize money during that period.
That was welcome news for Brantmeier, Joint and someone like Oliver Tarvet, the Brit who attends Texas Christian University and who won more than $ 200,000 (£150,700) for reaching the second round at Wimbledon this year. He too could only claim $ 10,000 (£7,300) before expenses.
In the men’s championship, Michael Zheng of Columbia University retained his title. Zheng, who has since played more on the ATP Challenger Tour than the college circuit, considered turning professional after last year’s win, but he wanted to finish his psychology degree.
His success on tour was such that he did not actually play enough college-ranked players to be seeded at this year’s event, but he played like a favorite this week, beating Southern Methodist University’s Trevor Svajda, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the final.
“It’s still an amazing feeling,” he said of his second title.
Zheng is planning to play some Challenger tour events over the next month, as he prepares for the Australian Open qualifying tournament.
Then it’s back to school for spring semester. Both he and Brantmeier plan to represent their schools in the team competitions through the end of the year.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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