Michael Mmoh
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Michael Mmoh ( ; born January 10, 1998) is a Saudi-born American tennis player. Mmoh has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 82 achieved on 20 February 2023. He has won 7
ATP Challenger The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...
titles and 4
ITF Futures The ITF World Tennis Tour (formerly known as the ''ITF Men's World Tennis Tour'', and previously ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. ...
tournaments, including his first at the age of 16. He won the USTA junior national championship in 2016.


Personal life

Born in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, where he lived until the age of 13, Mmoh has both Irish and Nigerian ancestry. Michael's father
Tony Mmoh Anthony Emmanuel O. “Tony” Mmoh ( ; born 14 June 1958 in Enugu) is a former tennis player from Nigeria, who represented his native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he was defeated in the second round by the Netherlands' w ...
was also a professional tennis player who represented
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and reached a career-high ranking of 105. His mother was born in Ireland and is also an Australian citizen. Mmoh's parents named him after basketball superstar
Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
. Mmoh began playing tennis at age 3. He trains at the
IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...
in Florida.


Junior career

Mmoh peaked in the Boy's Junior rankings at No. 2 after reaching the semifinals at the 2015 Junior French Open. He won the 2016 USTA 18s Boys' National Championship to earn a wild card into the main draw of the US Open.


Professional career


Early career

Mmoh has enjoyed some early success on the
ITF Futures The ITF World Tennis Tour (formerly known as the ''ITF Men's World Tennis Tour'', and previously ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. ...
tour, winning three titles before turning 18.


2016–2017: ATP, Grand Slam and top 200 debut

In February 2016, Mmoh qualified for his first ATP-level tournament at
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
by defeating fellow Americans
Dennis Novikov Dennis Novikov (born 6 November 1993 in Moscow, Russia) is an American professional tennis player born in Russia. He won both the singles and doubles titles at the USTA Boys 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2012. As a resul ...
and Bjorn Fratangelo. He then lost in the first round to eventual finalist
Taylor Fritz Taylor Harry Fritz (born October 28, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on October 10, 2022, and a doubles ranking of w ...
, the highest ranked American teenager at the time. Following his fourth Futures title, Mmoh was awarded a wildcard into the
Miami Masters The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, where he lost to
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
, the top-ranked 18 year-old in the world, after dropping two tiebreaks. In September 2016, Mmoh broke into the top 300 for the first time by reaching the final of the
ATP Challenger The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...
event at Tiburon as a qualifier. In November 2016, he reached the Top 200 and also won the
2017 Australian Open The 2017 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 and 29 January 2017. It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
Wild Card Challenge largely by claiming his first career
Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...
title at
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...
. He would claim another Challenger title the following summer in August 2017 at Lexington.


2018: Top 100, First ATP wins & quarterfinals, Masters third round

To start off the 2018 season, Mmoh recorded his first career ATP-level match wins by defeating
Federico Delbonis Federico Delbonis (; born 5 October 1990) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 33 achieved on 9 May 2016. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 110 achieved on 22 July 2019. Pro ...
in the first round of the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
and world No. 33
Mischa Zverev Mikhail "Mischa" Alexandrovich Zverev (russian: Михаил "Миша" Александрович Зверев, , ; born 22 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player born in Russia. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world ...
to make the quarterfinals, where he lost to
Alex de Minaur Alex de Minaur ( ; es, Álex de Miñaur Román, ; born 17 February 1999) is an Australian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 15 on 28 June 2021 and a doubles ranking of No. 58 on 12 October 2020. ...
. At the 2018 Miami Open he reached the third round as a qualifier for the first time at a Masters level defeating 12th seed
Roberto Bautista Agut Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in singles, which he first achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista A ...
for his first top-15 win and the biggest of his career. He entered the main draw at the
2018 Wimbledon Championships The 2018 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main tournament began on Monday, 2 July 2018 and ...
for the first time at this Grand Slam as a lucky loser. He reached the top 100 at World No. 97 on 1 October 2018.


2019–20: First Grand Slam win

In January 2019, Mmoh qualified for the first time via ranking in a Grand Slam main draw at the
2019 Australian Open The 2019 Australian Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 14 to 27 January 2019. It was the 107th edition of the Australian Open, the 51st in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam (te ...
where he lost in the first round to
Radu Albot Radu Albot (born 11 November 1989) is a Moldovan professional tennis player. He is the first player from Moldova to win ATP singles ( 2019 Delray Beach Open) and doubles ( 2015 Istanbul Open) titles. Albot has won 1 ATP World Tour singles tit ...
. At the
2020 Australian Open The 2020 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, from 20 January to 2 February 2020. It was the 108th edition of the Australian Open, the 52nd in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. T ...
, Mmoh recorded his first main draw victory with a straight sets win over
Pablo Andújar Pablo Andújar Alba (; born 23 January 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. Andújar has won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 in July 2015. His best results are reaching the fourth ...
as a wildcard. Following his Australian Open performance, Mmoh qualified for the main draw at the 2020 US Open, where he won his first round match against
João Sousa João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (), is a Portuguese professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 28 on 16 May 2016 and a doubles ranking of No. 26 on 13 May 2 ...
in four sets, and also at the
2020 French Open The 2020 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Originally scheduled for 24 May to 7 June, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was firs ...
, where he lost in the first round.


2021–22: ATP quarterfinal, Out of top 250

At the
2021 Australian Open The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. It was the 109th edition of the Australian Open, the 53rd in the Open Era, and the first Major tournament of the year. It was ...
he reached again the second round in a five set stunning comeback against
Viktor Troicki Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 a ...
but lost to second seed
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in the next round. He received a wildcard for the
2021 Miami Open The 2021 Miami Open was a professional hardcourt tennis tournament played from March 23 to April 4, 2021, on the grounds of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The 36th edition of the Miami Open, it was a Masters 1000 event on the 202 ...
. In 2022, he won a wildcard entry into the main draw at the
2022 French Open The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair ...
by winning the Roland Garros wildcard challenge.


2023: Australian Open third round, fourth ATP quarterfinal, top 85

Mmoh's first tournament of the year was in
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
, where he defeated local wildcard
Manas Dhamne Manas Manoj Dhamne (born 29 December 2007) is a professional tennis player from India. He made his ATP Tour debut at the 2023 Tata Open. In doing so, he became the first player born in 2007 to play a main draw match on the tour. Career Dhamn ...
in the first round before losing to the 6th seed,
Filip Krajinović Filip Krajinović (, ; born 27 February 1992) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26 on 23 April 2018.
in the second round. He then entered the
2023 Australian Open The 2023 Australian Open was a Grand Slam level tennis tournament held at Melbourne Park, from 16–29 January 2023. It was the 111th edition of the Australian Open, the 55th in the Open Era, and the first major of the year. The tournament consi ...
as a lucky loser after the withdrawal of
David Goffin David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is currently the Belgian No. 1, and the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10. Goffin has won six ATP titles ...
and won his first round match, defeating fellow qualifier French
Laurent Lokoli Laurent Lokoli (born 18 October 1994) is a French professional tennis player. Lokoli plays primarily ATP Challenger and ITF events. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 169 achieved on 30 January 2023. Career Lokoli received a wildca ...
, after saving a match point in the third set. He then defeated 12th seed
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
in the second round. He became the fifth player to make it as a lucky loser to the third round; the furthest a lucky loser had made it at this Major is the fourth round (
Stéphane Robert Stéphane Robert (; born 17 May 1980) is a professional French tennis player. Career Coach From 2001 to March 2010, Ronan Lafaix was Robert's coach. In May 2016, Lafaix, who is 12 years older than Robert, became Robert's coach for the second ...
in 2014). As a result he moved up 25 positions back into the top 100 to a new career-high singles ranking of No. 83 on 30 January 2023. In February, he lost in the first round at the Dallas Open to eventual champion
Yibing Wu Wu Yibing (; ; born 14 October 1999) is a Chinese professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of No. 58, achieved on 13 February 2023, and a doubles ranking of No. 295, achieved on 23 April 2018. He is the first Chinese man ...
. The following week, he reached the round of 16 at the
Delray Beach Open The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...
by defeating wildcard Aleksandar Kovacevic in three sets. Next he reached the quarterfinals after upsetting third seed
Denis Shapovalov Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born 15 April 1999) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) which he first achieved in September 2020. He is th ...
, also in three sets. As a result he reached a new career high ranking in the top 85.


Singles performance timeline

''Current through the 2023 Abierto Mexicano Telcel.''


ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals


Singles: 17 (11–6)


Doubles: 1 (1–0)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mmoh, Michael 1998 births Living people American male tennis players Tennis people from Florida American people of Irish descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent