Bradenton, Fla.-- Michael Mmoh was practically born with a tennis racket in his hands.

“I’ve been playing since I was three,” said Mmoh. “My dad was a top 100 player so basically since I was born he put a racket in my cradle and the rest is history”

He started playing tennis in Saudi Arabia, where he spent the first 12 years of his life. But it was in Florida where Michael saw his game take off. Michael’s impressive performances in several prestigious junior tournaments caught the eye of staff at IMG Academy, who eventually offered him a scholarship.

“Amazing athlete,” said longtime IMG Academy tennis coach David “Red” Ayme. “Super competitor, just fought for every ball and he had weapons early on.”

“Honestly one of the biggest blessings of my career was getting the opportunity to come down here. If you look around, there’s kids everywhere, so competitive. It’s just a great atmosphere to build a great professional tennis player.”

Once at IMG, Michael quickly developed into one of the top junior players in the world. “When I was 15, 16 years old, I was thinking about going to college to play Division I. All of a sudden I started getting a lot of good junior results. I was the No. 2 junior in the world and based off that I thought I had what it took to get to the top.”

Michael turned pro in 2016. Two years later, he cracked the ATP Top 100 rankings, checking at No. 96. But in 2019, Michael suffered a shoulder injury that put his promising career on hold.

“Kind of set me back,” said Mmoh. “Kind of been dealing with that ever since. I would say 2022 is my first year really healthy.”

For Michael, returning from an injury was a grueling process not just physically, but mentally.

“Just the fact you’re away from the tour watching your friends, watching your rivals compete. It’s a tough feeling just being on standstill sitting on the couch not being able to do what you want to do and not being able to train as well and it just kind of sets you back.”

Three years later, Michael is starting to find his stride again. In March, the 24-year-old won the Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, earning him a wild card into the one of the biggest tournaments in all of tennis; The French Open.

“Any opportunity to play the main draw of a slam it’s what you dream of,” said Mmoh. “To play the same tournament as Rafa (Rafael Nadal), (Nikola) Jokovic, all those guys. I’ve played in it before, unfortunately I didn’t win. This time I’m trying to take it one step further.”

With the French Open just a few weeks away, Cichael is as dialed in as he’s ever been, training six days a week at IMG. “I like to get in on most days, two sessions a day. I like to come out hit at 10:30 a.m. to 12iish. Have some lunch, take a nap. Come back in the afternoon, hit 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. and then have a little fitness session.”

Michael Mmoh is determined to serve notice to the rest of the tennis world that he’s back and better than ever.