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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Joshua Mbu

Who is Michael Mmoh? World No.118 upsets 11th seed at Wimbledon in first round

Americans have another male tennis star to root for at Wimbledon, with world No.118 Michael Mmoh storming into the second round after beating 11th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Mmoh, 25, beat Auger-Aliassime 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in three hours and 59 minutes to set up a date with world No.170 Maximilian Marterer on Wednesday.

The right-hander has had quite the 2023, beating previously top-ten-ranked Alexander Zverez at the Australian Open, and Denis Shapovalov at Delray Beach, before clinching victory against what appeared to be a wounded Auger-Aliassime. But who is Mmoh? Mirror Sport tells you all that you need to know about the American on a quest for singles glory at SW19.

Early career

Mmoh was born in Saudi Arabia and lived in the Middle East until he was 13 years old. The Wimbledon hopeful is of Nigerian and Irish heritage with his father, Tony, a former professional tennis player. Mmoh has already bettered his dad's best-ever Wimbledon result after reaching the second round.

Mmoh was named after American NBA legend Michael Jordan and began hitting tennis balls at the age of three, and he currently resides in Florida where he trains at IMG Academy.

His best spell in tennis so far came in his junior days, reaching No.2 after making the semi-finals at the Junior French Open in 2015. Mmoh also won the 2016 USTA 18s Boys' National Championship, earning an incredible wildcard for the main draw of the US Open where he lost in straight sets to Jeremy Chardy. He also enjoyed great success in the ITF Futures tour, winning an impressive three titles before turning 18 and even beating Casper Ruud.

The American beat Felix Auger-Aliassime and was a top star in his junior days (Getty)

Professional career

Mmoh is yet to go past the third round of a Grand Slam. His best-ever result came this year in Australia, beating Laurent Lokoli, and then Zverev, before losing to compatriot J.J. Wolf.

The 6ft2in Mmoh, whose prize money reportedly stands at $1.56 million (£1.23m), also competed in Paris at Rolland Garros. But his time in the French capital didn't last long, as he was beaten convincingly by top-ten star Taylor Fritz.

Should Mmoh compete at the US Open later this year, where he has appeared post-qualifiers on three different occasions, it'll be the first time in his professional career that he played in all four Grand Slams in the same season. He missed out on four consecutive Grand Slam appearances in 2020 after not being able to compete at Wimbledon due to Covid.

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