American men’s tennis player of Nigerian descent, Michael Mmoh, stunned world number 13 and 12th seed Alexander Zverev of Germany to progress into the third round of the 2023 Australian Open on Thursday.
Mmoh, 25, only entered this year’s Australian Open as a Lucky Loser after the withdrawal of David Goffin.
It is just the first time in Mmoh’s career that he has made it to the third round of any major.
Zverev got a good start to the match and took the first set 7-6(7-1) but Mmoh then made a fantastic comeback and won the next three sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
After Spanish legend Rafael Nadal, Zverev becomes the second big name to bow out from the tournament.
It was a disappointing outcome in what was Zverev’s first major since making the semi-finals at last year’s French Open.
Mmoh will face fellow American Jeffery Wolf in the third round on Saturday.
Born in Saudi Arabia, where he lived until the age of 13, Mmoh has both Irish and Nigerian ancestry.
His father Tony Mmoh was also a professional tennis player who represented Nigeria 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.
Mmoh began playing tennis at age three and trains at the IMG Academy in Florida.
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.
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