Introduction
Michael T. Joyce (born February 1, 1973) is an American former tennis player, who turned professional in 1991. The right-hander reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 64 in April 1996. He also became a coach of professional players, most notably former world number one Maria Sharapova from 2004 to 2011.
Tennis career
Juniors
Joyce and then-friend Erik Menéndez entered the 1989 Boys' Junior National Tennis Championship, not two weeks before Erik and his brother Lyle murdered their parents. Joyce beat Ian Williams in the 1st round of the Boys' 18 singles but lost to Jonathan Stark in the quarterfinals. He reached the finals of the Wimbledon Boys' event in 1991, losing to Thomas Enqvist.
Professional tennis player
On the professional tour, he won 3 Challenger events and reached the 4th round of the 1995 Wimbledon Championships. He won the men's singles in the Ojai Tennis Tournament in 2004. Pat Rafter, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Jim Courier, and Michael Chang were among those Joyce beat. He was 46–67 overall, going 1–10 against top 10 players.
He was the subject of an essay by David Foster Wallace in Esquire; the essay was later republished in Wallace's collections A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and String Theory.
Coach
Joyce was the coach of Maria Sharapova, along with her father, Yuri Sharapov, from summer 2004 until January 2011, when he was replaced by Thomas Högstedt. During his tenure, Sharapova won three Grand Slam singles titles and reached the World No. 1 ranking.
Joyce coached American tennis player Jessica Pegula from 2012 to 2017. While with Joyce, in 2013 before suffering from an injury, Pegula reached a career high singles world ranking of 123 and a doubles world ranking of 92.
In 2017, Joyce coached former world number one Victoria Azarenka for 8 months after she returned to competition following maternity leave. However, with family issues interrupting her schedule, the pair split at the end of the year, and Joyce took up the position of coach to Johanna Konta. In October 2018, Joyce split ways with Konta and began coaching Eugenie Bouchard. In April 2019, Joyce split ways with Bouchard; two months later he started to work with Tímea Babos. In 2021, Joyce joined USTA Player Development as a women's tennis national coach.
Personal life
Joyce currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida, with his wife Jenna and their daughter (born May 2016).
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 10 (6–4)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| ATP Challenger (3–3) |
| ITF Futures (3–1) |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (6–4) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| ATP Challenger (3–3) |
| ITF Futures (3–1) |
| Hard (6–4) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Apr 1994 | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | Challenger | Hard | Leonardo Lavalle | 6–1, 7–6 | |
| Loss | Sep 1994 | Seoul, South Korea | Challenger | Hard | David Nainkin | 7–6, 3–6, 5–7 | |
| Loss | Nov 1994 | Glendale, United States | Challenger | Hard | Christian Ruud | 1–6, 3–6 | |
| Win | Dec 1994 | [São Luís, Brazil | Challenger | Hard | Roger Smith | 6–3, 6–7, 7–6 | |
| Win | Dec 1998 | USA F10, Phoenix | Futures | Hard | Thomas Blake | 6–4, 6–4 | |
| Win | Mar 2000 | [Hamilton, New Zealand | Challenger | Hard | Gouichi Motomura | 4–6, 6–4, 6–4 | |
| Loss | Sep 2001 | Tarzana, United States | Challenger | Hard | Levar Harper-Griffith | 6–7, 3–6 | |
| Win | Nov 2002 | USA F27, Hammond | Futures | Hard | Tripp Phillips | 7–6, 7–6 | |
| Win | Feb 2003 | Great Britain F4, Redbridge | Futures | Hard | Stefano Pescosolido | 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 | |
| Loss | Mar 2003 | USA F6, Mobile | Futures | Hard | Peter Clarke | 6–7, 4–6 |
Doubles: 11 (4–7)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| ATP Challenger (2–6) |
| ITF Futures (2–1) |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (4–5) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–2) |
| ATP Challenger (2–6) |
| ITF Futures (2–1) |
| Hard (4–5) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–2) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Jan 1997 | Singapore, Singapore | Challenger | Hard | Scott Melville | Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes | 4–6, 6–4, 6–7 | |
| Loss | Jul 1997 | Flushing Meadows, United States | Challenger | Hard | David Witt | Geoff Grant Mark Merklein | 1–6, 4–6 | |
| Loss | Oct 1999 | Japan F6, Fukuoka | Futures | Carpet | Kyle Spencer | Tasuku Iwami Ryuso Tsujino | 6–4, 6–7, 4–6 | |
| Loss | Nov 1999 | Yokohama, Japan | Challenger | Carpet | Kyle Spencer | Satoshi Iwabuchi Thomas Shimada | 2–6, 4–6 | |
| Loss | Mar 2000 | [Hamilton, New Zealand | Challenger | Hard | Jim Thomas | Neville Godwin Michael Hill | 6–7, 4–6 | |
| Win | Jul 2000 | USA F17, Chico | Futures | Hard | Luke Smith | Zack Fleishman Robert Kendrick | 7–6, 6–7, 6–1 | |
| Win | Sep 2001 | Tarzana, United States | Challenger | Hard | Zack Fleishman | Kyle Spencer Glenn Weiner | 6–1, 5–7, 7–6 | |
| Win | Jul 2002 | Granby, Canada | Challenger | Hard | Noam Behr | Thomas Dupre Simon Larose | 6–0, 6–3 | |
| Loss | Aug 2002 | Belo Horizonte, Brazil | Challenger | Hard | Denis Golovanov | Daniel Melo Marcelo Melo | 3–6, 4–6 | |
| Loss | Aug 2002 | Gramado, Brazil | Challenger | Hard | Denis Golovanov | Alessandro Guevara Dejan Petrovic | 6–3, 5–7, 2–6 | |
| Win | Mar 2003 | USA F6, Mobile | Futures | Hard | Kevin Kim | Josh Goffi Travis Parrott | 6–7, 6–3, 7–5 |
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1991 | Wimbledon | Grass | Thomas Enqvist | 4–6, 2–6 |
Performance timelines
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
| Tournament | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | SR | W–L | Win % | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | Q1 | A | Q2 | A | 2R | 2R | A | Q3 | A | Q2 | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% | ||||||||
| French Open | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 1R | A | Q1 | A | Q1 | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | 4R | 1R | Q2 | Q1 | Q3 | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% | ||||||||
| US Open | 2R | Q1 | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | Q2 | Q2 | Q1 | Q3 | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | 29% | ||||||||
| Win–loss | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 10 | 7–10 | 41% | ||||||||
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | Q1 | 3R | Q2 | Q2 | A | A | A | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | 67% | ||||||||
| Miami Open | A | A | Q3 | Q2 | 3R | QF | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 6–3 | 67% | ||||||||
| Canada Masters | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | ||||||||
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 6–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 6 | 9–6 | 60% | ||||||||
Doubles
| Tournament | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | SR | W–L | Win % | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | Q2 | A | 1R | A | A | Q2 | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | A | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 3 | 0–3 | 0% | ||||||||||||||
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 4 | 0–4 | 0% | ||||||||||||||
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||
| Miami Open | A | A | Q2 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||
| Canada Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | ||||||||||||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | ||||||||||||||