Jocelyn “Jay” Devilliers (born December 18, 1994) is a French professional

pickleball Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played i ...

player. As of August 12, 2023, he is ranked No. 4 in the world for Men's Singles, No. 7 in the world for Men's Doubles, and No. 9 in the world for Men's Mixed Doubles by the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA).

Personal life

Devilliers was born in

Rosny-Sous-Bois Rosny-sous-Bois () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. It is the seat of the national centre of road information of the national French Gendarmerie, g ...

, France on December 18, 1994. During his childhood, he would compete in multiple varsity sports consisting of

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, squash,

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

. He had excelled greatly in tennis and soccer, but would have to choose one to continue in, ultimately he would choose tennis. In 2009, Devilliers would leave his home country and move to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain where he would continue his training in Tennis, and while living there, completed his high school diploma and had met his future wife, Aleksandra Trifunovic. Unfortunately, after suffering a severe injury, Devillers was unable to compete at a professional level of tennis, so he made the decision to accept a College Tennis Scholarship at the

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. In 2013, Devilliers had joined the Men's Tennis Team at Wichita State University. After graduation, he would be introduce to pickleball and had noticed it had many similarities to Tennis, and how it did not require as much physical effort as tennis did, which inspired him to start competing as a hobby in 2020. He now competes full time and is working on growing the sport in his home country, France. As of August 2023, he currently resides in Wichita, Kansas, U.S.

Pickleball career

Devilliers started his professional pickleball career in 2020, and has won multiple tournaments throughout his career. His highest PPA Career ranking was No. 2 in Men's Singles; No. 3 in Men's Doubles; and No. 2 in Mixed Doubles. As of August 2023, In the PPA he is sponsored by Bemer Group, Ultimate RepairX, and Vulcan Advanced Logic Pickleball, and currently uses the Vulcan V740 Max Jay Devilliers Signature paddle.

2020

Devilliers has won gold at the 2020 APP Cincinnati Open in the Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles division, and has won gold at the 2020 APP Hilton Head in the Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles division. He's won silver at the 2020 APP Hilton Head in the Men's Doubles division, and has won silver at the 2020 APP Chicago Open in the Men's Singles division. He's won bronze at the 2020 PPA Florida Grand Slam in the Men's Singles division, the APP Cincinnati Open in the Men's Doubles division, and the 2020 PPA Texas Open in the Men's Singles Division.

2021

Devillers has won gold at the 2021 APP Cincinnati Open in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 APP Indianapolis Open in the Men's Singles and Men's Doubles division, the 2021 APP Los Angeles Open in the Men's Singles and Men's Doubles division, the 2021 APP SoCal Classic Open in the Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles Division, the 2021 APP Beer City Open in the Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles Division, the 2021 APP Pacific NW in the Men's Singles, Men's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles division, the 2021 APP Chicago Open in the Men's Singles division, and the PPA Championship in the Men's Singles division. He has won silver at the 2021 World Pickleball Championship in the Men's Singles and Men's Doubles division, the 2021 PPA Mesa Grand Slam in the Men's Doubles division, the 2021 APP Delray Beach Open in the Men's Doubles division, the 2021 PPA Georgia Open Men's in the Men's Doubles division, the 2021 PPA Orange County Cup in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 Newport Open in the Men's Doubles division, the 2021 APP Beer City Open in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 PPA Showcase in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 APP Chicago Open in the Men's Doubles division, the 2021 PPA Orlando in the Mixed Doubles division, the 2021 APP Atlanta Open in the Mixed Doubles division, the 2021 PPA Texas Open in the Mixed Doubles division, and the 2021 APP Hilton Head in the Mixed Doubles division. He has won bronze at the 2021 APP Masters in the Men's Doubles division, the 2021 PPA Mesa Grand Slam in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 PPA Florida Grand Slam in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 PPA Georgia Open in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 APP SoCal Classic Open in the Men's Singles division, the 2021 Newport Open in the Men's Singles division, and the 2021 PPA Championship in the Men's Singles division.

2022

Devillers has won gold at the 2022 APP Mesa Open in the Mixed Doubles division and the 2022 PPA Selkirk Showdown in the Men's Doubles division. He has won silver at the 2022 PPA JW Marriott Phoenix Open in the Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Indoor National Championship in the Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Riverland Open in the Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Cincinnati Grands Slam in the Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Texas Round Up in the Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles division, and the 2022 PPA N2grate DC Open in the Men's Singles division. He has won bronze at the 2022 PPA Riverland Open in the Men's Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Austin Open in the Men's Singles, Men's Doubles, and the Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA St George Open in the Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Tournament of Champions in the Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Peachtree Classic in the Mixed Doubles division, the 2022 PPA Takeya Open in the Men's Singles division, and the 2022 PPA Hertz Orlando Open in the Men's Doubles division.

2023

Devillers has won silver at the 2023 PPA Arizona Grand Slam in the Men's Singles division. He has won bronze at the 2023 PPA Hyundai Masters Open in the Men's Doubles division, the 2023 PPA Indoor National Championships in the Men's Singles division, the 2023 PPA Florida Open in the Mixed Doubles division, the 2023 PPA Red Rock Open in the Men's Singles division.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devilliers, Jay 1994 births Living people French pickleball players 21st-century French sportsmen