Styslinger grew up in the Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook and trained at the IMG Bollettieri Academy in Florida.

He is the son of tennis player Mark Styslinger, a two-time All-American for SMU who also achieved a world ranking.

[1][2] A top-30 junior, Styslinger made the boys' singles quarter-finals of the 2011 Australian Open, beating Nick Kyrgios en route.

He played collegiate tennis for the University of Virginia and was a member of three NCAA championship teams.

This earned them a wildcard to the doubles main draw of the 2013 US Open, where they fell in the first round to Michaël Llodra and Nicolas Mahut.