Michael Mmoh
.jpg) Mmoh at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bradenton, Florida, U.S. |
| Born | January 10, 1998 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Turned pro | 2016 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | US $2,188,586[1] |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 29–40[1] |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 81 (11 September 2023)[2] |
| Current ranking | No. 198 (9 September 2024) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2023) |
| French Open | 1R (2020, 2022, 2023) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2023) |
| US Open | 3R (2023) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 3–5 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 265 (12 April 2021)[2] |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| US Open | 2R (2014) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| US Open | 1R (2017, 2018) |
| Last updated on: 9 September 2024. | |
Michael Mmoh (/moʊ/ MOH;[3] born January 10, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. Mmoh has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 81 achieved on 11 September 2023. He has won seven ATP Challenger titles and four ITF Futures tournaments, including his first at the age of 16. He won the USTA junior national championship in 2016.
Personal life
[edit]Born in Saudi Arabia, where he lived until the age of 13, Mmoh has both Irish and Nigerian ancestry. Michael's father Tony Mmoh was also a professional tennis player who represented Nigeria and reached a career-high ranking of No.105. His mother was born in Ireland and is also an Australian citizen. Mmoh's parents named him after basketball superstar Michael Jordan.
Mmoh began playing tennis at age 3. He trains at the IMG Academy in Florida.[4]
Junior career
[edit]Mmoh peaked in the junior rankings at No. 2 after reaching the semifinals at the 2015 Junior French Open, where he lost to eventual champion Tommy Paul. He won the 2016 USTA 18s Boys' National Championship to earn a wild card into the main draw of the US Open.
Professional career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Mmoh enjoyed early success on the ITF Futures tour, winning three titles before turning 18.
2016–17: ATP, Grand Slam and top 200 debut
[edit]In February 2016, Mmoh qualified for his first ATP-level tournament at Memphis by defeating fellow Americans Dennis Novikov and Bjorn Fratangelo. He then lost in the first round to eventual finalist Taylor Fritz, the highest ranked American teenager at the time. Following his fourth Futures title, Mmoh was awarded a wildcard into the Miami Masters, where he lost to Alexander Zverev, 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 event at Tiburon as a qualifier.
In November 2016, he reached the Top 200 and also won the 2017 Australian Open Wild Card Challenge largely by winning his first career Challenger title at Knoxville. He would claim another Challenger title the following summer in August 2017 at Lexington.
2018: Top 100, First ATP wins & quarterfinals, Masters third round
[edit]To start off the 2018 season, Mmoh recorded his first career ATP-level match wins by defeating Federico Delbonis in the first round of the Brisbane International and world No. 33 Mischa Zverev to make the quarterfinals, where he lost to Alex de Minaur.[5]
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 for his first top-15 win and the biggest of his career.[6]
He entered the main draw at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships 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
[edit]In January 2019, Mmoh qualified for the first time via ranking in a Grand Slam main draw at the 2019 Australian Open where he lost in the first round to Radu Albot.
At the 2020 Australian Open, Mmoh recorded his first main draw victory with a straight sets win over Pablo Andújar 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 in four sets, and also at the 2020 French Open, where he lost in the first round.
2021–22: ATP quarterfinal, Out of top 250
[edit]At the 2021 Australian Open he reached again the second round in a five set stunning comeback against Viktor Troicki but lost to second seed Rafael Nadal in the next round.[7]
He received a wildcard for the 2021 Miami Open.
In 2022, he entered the 2022 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships as a lucky loser directly into the second round replacing top seed Casper Ruud who withdrew in the last minute. He won his first match defeating Sam Querrey to reach the quarterfinals[8] but withdrew due to injury.[9]
Mmoh won a wildcard entry into the main draw at the 2022 French Open by winning the Roland Garros wildcard challenge.[10]
2023: Best season: Two Major third rounds, fourth ATP quarterfinal, top 85
[edit]Mmoh's first tournament of the year was in Pune, where he defeated local wildcard Manas Dhamne in the first round[11] before losing to the 6th seed, Filip Krajinović in the second round.[12]
He then entered the 2023 Australian Open as a lucky loser after the withdrawal of David Goffin and won his first round match, defeating fellow qualifier French Laurent Lokoli, after saving a match point in the third set. He then defeated 12th seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.[13][14] 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 in 2014).[15] 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.[16]
In February, he lost in the first round at the Dallas Open to eventual champion Yibing Wu. The following week, he reached the round of 16 at the Delray Beach Open by defeating wildcard Aleksandar Kovacevic in three sets.[17] He then reached the quarterfinals after upsetting third seed Denis Shapovalov, also in three sets.[18] As a result, he reached a new career high ranking of No. 82 on 20 February 2023.
In early March, Mmoh suffered a leg injury at the Mexican Open during his second round match against Tommy Paul and did not return to competition until May at the French Open, where he lost in the first round to ninth seed Taylor Fritz. He entered the 2023 Wimbledon Championships as a lucky loser again and defeated 11th seed Félix Auger-Aliassime in the first round.
In July 2023, in Washington, D.C., he defeated world No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz, and in Winston-Salem he beat Marcos Giron as a wildcard.[19] Next he defeated 11th seed Karen Khachanov in the first and John Isner in the second round of the US Open.[20] It was Isner's last singles match before retiring from professional tennis.[21][22]
Singles performance timeline
[edit]| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Current through the 2024 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships.
| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | SR | W–L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 1R | Q1 | 1R | 2R | 2R | Q1 | 3R | Q1 | 0 / 5 | 4–5 | 44% |
| French Open | A | A | A | Q1 | A | Q1 | 1R | Q1 | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | Q1 | 1R | Q1 | NH | A | Q2 | 2R | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| US Open | A | Q1 | 1R | Q3 | 1R | Q1 | 2R | Q1 | Q1 | 3R | A | 0 / 4 | 3–4 | 43% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 5–4 | 0–0 | 0 / 14 | 8–14 | 36% |
| ATP Masters 1000 | ||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | A | NH | Q1 | A | A | Q1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Miami Open | A | Q1 | 1R | 1R | 3R | A | NH | 1R | Q1 | A | Q1 | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% |
| Canadian Open | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | NH | Q1 | Q1 | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Tournaments | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 4 | Career total: 41 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 13–10 | 5–4 | 0 / 41 | 29–40 | 42% |
| Year-end ranking | 659 | 455 | 197 | 175 | 103 | 218 | 174 | 239 | 113 | 105 | $2,097,869 | |||
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
[edit]Singles: 18 (11–7)
[edit]
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2016 | Tiburon Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard |  Darian King | 6–7(5–7), 2–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Nov 2016 | Knoxville Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard (i) |  Peter Polansky | 7–5, 2–6, 6–1 |
| Win | 2–1 | Aug 2017 | Lexington Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard |  John Millman | 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3 |
| Win | 3–1 | Sep 2018 | Columbus Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard (i) | Jordan Thompson | 6–3, 7–6(7–4) |
| Win | 4–1 | Sep 2018 | Tiburon Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard |  Marcel Granollers | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Loss | 4–2 | Sep 2019 | Cary Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard |  Andreas Seppi | 2–6, 7–6(7–4), 3–6 |
| Win | 5–2 | Nov 2019 | Knoxville Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard (i) | Christopher O'Connell | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 5–3 | Apr 2022 | Tallahassee Tennis Challenger, US | Challenger | Clay |  Wu Tung-lin | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 6–3 | Sep 2022 | Cary Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard |  Dominik Koepfer | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–3 | Oct 2022 | Fairfield Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard | Gabriel Diallo | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 7–4 | Nov 2022 | Challenger de Drummondville, Canada | Challenger | Hard (i) | Vasek Pospisil | 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 4–6 |
| Loss | 7–5 | Nov 2023 | Yokkaichi Challenger, Japan | Challenger | Hard |  Zizou Bergs | 2–6, 6–7(2–7) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Oct 2014 | Brownsville F29, US | Futures | Hard |  Dennis Novikov | 7–6(7–5), 6–1 |
| Win | 2–0 | Jul 2015 | Godfrey F22, US | Futures | Hard | Jared Hiltzik | 6–3, 3–6, 7–5 |
| Win | 3–0 | Oct 2015 | Houston F30, US | Futures | Hard |  Lucas Gómez | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 3–1 | Jan 2016 | Long Beach F2, US | Futures | Hard | Yannick Hanfmann | 4–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 4–1 | Mar 2016 | Bakerfield F10, US | Futures | Hard |  Casper Ruud | 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–1 |
| Loss | 4–2 | Jul 2017 | Wichita F23, US | Futures | Hard | Christian Harrison | 6–1, 2–6, 5–7 |
Doubles: 1 (1–0)
[edit]
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Sep 2019 | Cary Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard | Sekou Bangoura |  Treat Huey John-Patrick Smith | 4–6, 6–4, [10–8] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Michael Mmoh | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ a b "Michael Mmoh | Rankings History | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ Full Interview: Francis Tiafoe and Michael Mmoh. RacketComedy. June 3, 2014. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ Waldstein, David (September 6, 2015). "Michael Mmoh is a rising hope". New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
- ^ "Teenager Alex De Minaur beats Michael Mmoh to reach Brisbane ATP semi-finals". Fox Sports. January 5, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ "Michael Mmoh Finds a Shining Mmoh-Ment Against Rba". March 24, 2018.
- ^ "Five Things to Know About Michael Mmoh, Rafael Nadal's Next Opponent | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Motivated by recent success, Michael Mmoh "coming into form" in Houston".
- ^ "Reilly Opelka Sets Nick Kyrgios Showdown in Houston SFS | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Michael Mmoh Earns French Open Main Draw Wild Card by Winning Men's Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge". Tennis Taratari. May 3, 2022. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
- ^ "15-year-old Manas Dhamne impresses in first round Tata Open loss". January 2, 2023.
- ^ "Tennis, ATP – Pune Open 2023: Krajinovic gets past Mmoh". January 4, 2023.
- ^ ATP Tour [@atptour] (January 19, 2023). "🚨 The upsets continue 🚨 @MichaelMmoh defeats Zverev 6-7(1) 6-4 6-3 6-2 to move on to the third round down under! @AustralianOpen | #AusOpen https://t.co/5ZVJK6FU5z" (Tweet). Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Tennis, ATP – Australian Open 2023: Mmoh eliminates Zverev". January 19, 2023.
- ^ OptaAce [@OptaAce] (January 19, 2023). "5 - Michael Mmoh is the 5th player to make it as a lucky loser to the round of 32 in the Australian Open, the furthest a LL has made it in the Australian Open is round of 16 (Stephane Robert in 2014). Power. #AusOpen2023 #AusOpen https://t.co/4sU0m3KpqQ" (Tweet). Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Books, Psychologist, & Challenger Tour Play Role in Mmoh's Top 100 Return | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Tennis, ATP – Delray Beach Open 2023: Mmoh eliminates Kovacevic". February 14, 2023.
- ^ "Michael Mmoh Upsets Denis Shapovalov to Reach Delray Beach QFS | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "'The New' Michael Mmoh | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2023-09-02/michael_mmoh_is_on_the_rise_at_the_2023_us_open.html [bare URL]
- ^ Fadulu, Lola (September 1, 2023). "John Isner Says Goodbye to Pro Tennis at the U.S. Open". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2023-08-23/john_isner_announces_plans_to_retire_following_2023_us_open.html [bare URL]
