Michael Sell (born August 23, 1972) is a former professional

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 ...

player from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He was the co-head coach of the women's

team at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

with Julia Sell from 2015 to April 2022.

Career

At the 1989

Boys' Junior National Tennis Championship The Boys' Junior National Tennis Championship ( the USTA Boys 18s and 16s National Championships and nicknamed Nationals at the Zoo) takes place on the Kalamazoo College campus in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This United States Tennis Association (USTA ...

, Sell lost to

Alexis Hombrecher Alexis Hombrecher (born January 29, 1971) is a German born former professional tennis player from the United States. Biography The Wertheim native moved with his family to the United States in 1983 at the age of 12, settling in Suisun City, Cal ...

in the 4th round."1989 Draw Sheet, USTA Boys' 16 & Boys' 18 National Championship" ''web.archive.org''
retrieved May 16, 2023 He had better success as a 4-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

for the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> He and Rob Givone won the bronze medal in the men's doubles at the

1993 Summer Universiade The 1993 Summer Universiade, also known as XVII Summer Universiade or World University Games Buffalo '93, took place in Buffalo, New York, as the main site. For the first time in history the event was hosted by two countries, as some events wer ...

. Sell appeared in the main singles draw of two Grand Slams. In the 1997 US Open he beat

Cecil Mamiit Cecil Valdeavilla Mamiit (born June 27, 1976) is a former tennis player from the United States who went on to represent the Philippines. He began his professional career in 1996 and reached his highest individual ranking in the ATP Tour on Octo ...

in the opening round, then lost in four sets to

Daniel Vacek Daniel Vacek (born 1 April 1971) is a former tennis player from Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic who turned professional in 1990. He reached the quarterfinals of the 1995 Paris Masters, the 1998 Canada Masters and the 1998 Cincinnati M ...

. He exited in the opening round of the

1998 French Open The 1998 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 25 May until 7 June. It was the 97th staging of the French Open, and the second Gran ...

, losing to

Jordi Mas Jordi Mas-Rodriguez (born 31 October 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. Career Mas made the second round of the 1998 French Open, beating American Michael Sell, before exiting the tournament at the hands of Johan Van Herck. ...

, despite taking the first set 6–0. His best performance on the singles circuit came at the 1999 Japan Open Tennis Championships, where he defeated

Mark Woodforde Mark Raymond Woodforde, OAM (born 23 September 1965) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of " The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge. Woodforde was born in Adelaide, and join ...

and Gouichi Motomura to make the round of 16. In the

2000 Heineken Open The 2000 Heineken Open was a men's ATP tennis tournament held in Auckland, New Zealand. The event was part of the International Series of the 2000 ATP Tour and was played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 33rd edition of the tournament and was ...

he had a win over world number 34

Nicolas Escude Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

. In doubles, he reached the 2nd round of all four Grand Slams, including the

1998 Australian Open The 1998 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 86th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 19 January through 1 February 1998. Senior ...

where he partnered

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

winner

Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the list of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals f ...

. His best results came when he teamed up with countryman

David DiLucia David DiLucia (born January 15, 1970) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Career Junior years As a junior, DiLucia had success at the 1987 US Open, where he was a boys' singles semi-finalist. En route to the se ...

. The pair twice made the semi-finals of San Jose's Sybase Open, in 1998 and 1999. Sell served as the personal coach of

Monica Seles Monica Seles (born December 2, 1973) is a Serbian–American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

, Donald Young, and

John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...

Challenger Titles

Singles: (3)

Doubles: (11)

Coaching career

* 2001-2002 - Monica Seles - Personal Coach * 2003-2007 - USTA National Coach * 2007-2012 - USTA Lead National Coach * 2012 - USA Olympic Assistant Tennis Coach - London Games * 2013-2014 - John Isner - Personal Coach * 2015-2022 - Co-head Coach LSU Women's Tennis * 2022 to Current - Director LTP Professional Program

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sell, Michael 1972 births Living people American male tennis players Tennis coaches from California Georgia Bulldogs men's tennis players LSU Lady Tigers tennis coaches Tennis players from Berkeley, California Summer World University Games medalists in tennis FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the United States Tennis coaches from New Jersey 20th-century American sportsmen