2018 Miami Open: Momentum from Bradenton

Key Biscayne, home to the 2018 Miami Open, created a center stage for several IMG Academy alumni and trainees to shine on. As the tournament will transition to the Hard Rock Stadium next year, players like Danielle Collins, Hyeon Chung, and Michael Mmoh certainly left their hearts both on the court and on the Key. 

In this year's tournament, the following players held notable performances and competed as part of the IMG Academy family: Hyeon Chung, Danielle Collins, Karen Khachanov, Kei Nishikori, and Michael Mmoh.

Collins earned her way into the top 60 WTA rankings after an incredibly successful start to the 2018 season. Her 2018 Miami Open finish, which began in the qualifying rounds, allowed her to become the first qualifier to ever advance to the semifinals of the Miami Open, knock out the likes of No. 8 seed Venus Williams and No. 16 seed Coco Vandeweghe from the main draw, and to become the fourth qualifier to ever advance to the semifinals of a Premier Mandatory event. Collins started her run in Miami at No. 93. With her semifinal finish, Collins has earned a slot inside the upcoming French Open and Wimbledon main draws where she will certainly be a player to watch.

Her coach, Pat Harrison, father of Ryan and Christian Harrison who compete on the ATP tour, supported Collins every step of the way.

"She's made great progress," Harrison said. "The more matches she's gotten in, the more she realizes she belongs at this level on a regular basis. She's been working her way up on the ITF circuit where there's a lot of top players. She's always been incredibly mentally tough and an incredible competitor."

Harrison and Tom Hill, who is an IMG Academy alumni and Pepperdine graduate, were able to work with Collins throughout the event and see her progress from her player's box.

"She took it one match at a time," Harrison said. "She had a tough last round of qualifying against a top 100 player, and she worked her way through that. From there, once she was in main draw, she was able to relax and made it through three 3-set matches. She's getting better and imposing her game, will, and determination on people. Her scores speak volumes on her physical conditioning and mental toughness, which she's always had."

Collins enrolled at IMG Academy in 2011 and went on to compete for the University of Virginia, where she earned two D1 NCAA Championships. Since graduating, Collins has been training to make a statement on the ITF and WTA circuits. Thus far in 2018, Collins can certainly say she's completed this task. The next tournament for Collins will be in Monterrey at the Abierto GNP Seguros, a WTA event. 

Michael Mmoh and Hyeon Chung drew each other in their third round match. Chung came out victorious, but Mmoh turned heads while in Miami as well. Mmoh, who began his career as an IMG Academy camper and went on to enroll in 2011, knocked out No. 12 seed Roberto Bautista Agut en route to his final match in Miami. Upon this victory, Mmoh earned a newfound following and should move up in the rankings from his current No. 176 slot. His coach, Glenn Weiner, traveled from Bradenton to Miami for this event.

"The key word regarding Miami was consistency," Weiner said. "Both physically and mentally. Michael had challenges in all of his matches, and none were easy, but his mental and emotional stability and consistency were the key factors in his performance."

Moving forward, Mmoh and Weiner plan to continue focusing on both his mental game as well as consistency.

"In December, we had a clear vision of what Michael needed to work on and improve, and he was very motivated to work hard and improve all parts of his game, from technique and strategy to fitness and mental conditioning," Weiner said. "We teamed up with Duncan Simpson, IMG Academy mental conditioning coach, to put our performance, process, and mental goals explicitly on paper so we could see exactly where he wanted to go and how to get there."

At 20 years old, Mmoh's Miami performance will set the tone for the rest of 2018, and he's gaining traction by the tournament.

Nishikori made his way into the third round, where he fell to Juan Martin Del Potro. Chung later fell to John Isner in the same side of the draw.

From the IMG Academy family and team, we're looking forward to watching the continued success of these players and wish them the best as the clay court season commences.

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