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

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

player from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

.ITF Tennis Profile
/ref> He was the co-head coach of the women’s

team at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

with

Julia Sell Julia Sell was the co-head coach of women’s tennis at Louisiana State University with Michael Sell from 2015 to 2022. She was originally hired by LSU as the lone head coach of the women's tennis team in 2012. Coaching career # 2007 - Harvard ...

from 2015 to April 2022.

Career

Before he turned professional, Sell played for the University of Georgia and was an All-American every year from 1992 to 1995.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> He won a 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, United States. Sports * * * * * * * * * * * * Venues *Athletics – University at Buffalo St ...

, partnering

Rob Givone Robert Givone (born May 1, 1973) is an American former professional tennis player. Givone, a native of Westchester (New York), turned professional in 1994 following three years of college tennis at Georgia Tech. He was a doubles bronze medali ...

. 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 ...

the next time he played. 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 102nd staging of the French Open, and the second Gr ...

, 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 Herc ...

, despite taking the first set 6–0. His best performance on the singles circuit came at the

1999 Japan Open Tennis Championships The 1999 Japan Open Tennis Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan that was part of the International Series Gold of the 1999 ATP Tour and of Tier III of the 1999 WTA Tour. The ...

, 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 joined ...

and

Gouichi Motomura (born 25 December 1973) is a retired Challenger tour and Japan Davis Cup team tennis player. Over a 16-year period, Motomura captured four Challenger titles, all in doubles, and is tied for the most Davis Cup ties played by a Japanese player ...

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 h ...

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), ...

. As a doubles player he was more successful, reaching the second 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 Albert 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. Seniors ...

where he partnered

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...

winner

Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the French Open singles title three times (1997, 2000, and 2001), and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000. During his career he wo ...

. His best results came when he teamed up with countryman David DiLucia. The pair twice made the semi-finals of San Jose's Sybase Open, in 1998 and 1999. He is now a tennis coach and has served as the personal coach of

Monica Seles Monica Seles (; hu, Széles Mónika, ; sr, Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; born December 2, 1973) is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. A former world No. 1, she won nine Grand Sla ...

, Donald Young and

John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been 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

* 2001-2003 - 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 American tennis coaches Georgia Bulldogs tennis players LSU Lady Tigers tennis coaches Tennis people from California Sportspeople from Berkeley, California Universiade medalists in tennis Universiade bronze medalists for the United States