MaliVai Washington

MaliVai "Mal" Washington (/mælɪˈviːə/ mal-uh-VEE-uh)[1] (born June 20, 1969) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon in 1996, won four ATP titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in October 1992.

MaliVai Washington
Washington at the US Open, 2010
Country (sports) United States
ResidencePonte Vedra Beach, Florida
Born (1969-06-20) June 20, 1969
Glen Cove, New York
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Turned pro1989
Retired1999
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,232,565
Singles
Career record254–184
Career titles4
Highest rankingNo. 11 (October 26, 1992)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenQF (1994)
French Open4R (1993)
WimbledonF (1996)
US Open4R (1992)
Other tournaments
Grand Slam CupQF (1996)
Olympic GamesQF (1996)
Doubles
Career record27–44
Highest rankingNo. 172 (April 20, 1992)
Grand Slam Doubles results
US Open2R (1991)

Family

Washington began playing tennis aged five.[2] Washington's younger sister, Mashona, is also a former top-50 professional tennis player. His younger brother, Mashiska, received All-America honors at Michigan State University, before joining the men's professional tour. MaliVai's older sister Michaela also played professionally.[3]

Amateur tennis

As a high school senior, Washington was coached by former ATP Tour participant Victor Amaya. For two seasons, Washington played tennis for the University of Michigan and was the top ranked college player in the United States at the end of his sophomore season.[3] He left college two years into his studies to pursue a professional tennis career.[4]

Professional career

Washington turned professional in 1989. In 1990, while ranked no. 103, he defeated world number 2 Ivan Lendl in New Haven for the loss of just five games (6-3, 6-2).

During his breakthrough year in 1992, Washington won the Memphis title (defeating seventh-seeded Wayne Ferreira in the final) and the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina, winning the final against Claudio Mezzadri.[5][6]. He reached a career high ranking of 11 in October.

In 1993, Washington reached his first Masters final in Miami, losing to Pete Sampras in straight sets.

At the 1994 Australian Open, Washington reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, after a win over second-seeded Michael Stich in the first round and a five-set victory against Mats Wilander in the fourth round. He also had wins over Michael Chang and Stefan Edberg during the US Summer hard court season, and won his third ATP-title in Ostrava in October.

In 1995, he beat world no. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round of the Essen Masters on his way to the final (where he lost to Thomas Muster).

Washington's biggest success at a Grand Slam event came in 1996 when he was a runner-up at the Wimbledon Championships. On his way to the final he defeated ninth-seeded Thomas Enqvist in the second round, and came back from a 1–5 deficit in the fifth set of the semifinal to beat Todd Martin, finally winning 10-8. Before the tournament had started, his odds of winning the title were 300-1.[7][8] He eventually lost the final to Richard Krajicek.[6][9]. He gained revenge against Krajicek in the Grand Slam Cup in October later that year, beating him for the loss of just three games (6-1, 6-2).

Washington suffered from a recurring knee injury from the beginning of 1997, causing him to miss most of the 1997 and 1999 seasons, and precipitating his retirement in December 1999.[10]

Awards

In 2009 Washington won the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award, for his positive work through the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation.[11]

In 2015 Washington won the NJTL Founders' Service Award (The USTA's National Junior Tennis League), for his continued contribution since retirement to support education and tennis among children and young people (particularly those underprivileged).[12]

Grand Slam singles final

Runner-up (1)
Result Date Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss1996WimbledonGrass Richard Krajicek3–6, 4–6, 3–6

ATP Tour finals

Singles (4 titles, 9 runner-ups)
Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Championship Series (1)
ATP Tour (3)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 1992 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Jaime Yzaga 6–7(6–8), 4–6
Win 1–1 Feb 1992 Memphis, U.S. Hard (i) Wayne Ferreira 6–3, 6–2
Loss 1–2 Apr 1992 Tampa, U.S. Clay Jaime Yzaga 6–3, 4–6, 1–6
Win 2–2 May 1992 Charlotte, U.S. Clay Claudio Mezzadri 6–3, 6–3
Loss 2–3 Jun 1992 Manchester, U.K. Grass Jacco Eltingh 3–6, 4–6
Loss 2–4 Aug 1992 New Haven, U.S. Hard Stefan Edberg 6–7(4–7), 1–6
Loss 2–5 Jan 1993 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Alexander Volkov 6–7(2–7), 4–6
Loss 2–6 Mar 1993 Miami, U.S. Hard Pete Sampras 3–6, 2–6
Win 3–6 Oct 1994 Ostrava, Czech Republic Carpet (i) Arnaud Boetsch 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss 3–7 Oct 1995 Ostrava, Czech Republic Carpet (i) Wayne Ferreira 6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Loss 3–8 Oct 1995 Essen, Germany Carpet (i) Thomas Muster 6–7(6–8), 6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Win 4–8 Apr 1996 Bermuda Clay Marcelo Filippini 6–7(6–8), 6–4, 7–5
Loss 4–9 Jul 1996 Wimbledon, U.K. Grass Richard Krajicek 3–6, 4–6, 3–6

Doubles (1 runner-up)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 1995 Bogota, Colombia Clay Steve Campbell Jiri Novak
David Rikl		 6–7, 2–6

Performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Singles

Tournament198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999Career SRCareer Win-Loss
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A 1R 3R 4R QF 1R 4R 4R 2R* A 0 / 8 16–7
French Open A A 1R 1R 2R 4R 1R 2R 1R A A A 0 / 7 5–7
Wimbledon A A 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R F A A A 0 / 7 9–7
US Open A 2R 2R 3R 4R 3R 2R 1R 2R A 1R A 0 / 9 11–9
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 31 N/A
Annual Win-Loss 0–0 1–1 2–3 3–4 6–4 9–4 5–4 1–4 10–4 3–1 1–1 0–0 N/A 41–30
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A 3R 1R 1R A A 2R A 0 / 5 5–5
Miami A A A 1R 2R F 2R 4R 3R A 2R A 0 / 7 10–7
Monte Carlo A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Rome A A A A A 1R A 3R 2R A A A 0 / 3 3–3
Hamburg A A A A A A A 2R 2R A A A 0 / 2 2–2
Montreal/Toronto A A 1R 2R SF 2R QF QF 3R A 3R A 0 / 8 13–8
Cincinnati A A A 3R 1R 2R 3R 1R 2R A A 1R 0 / 7 6–6
Stockholm/Essen/Stuttgart A A A A 2R SF 1R F 2R A A A 0 / 5 9–5
Paris A A A 2R 2R 2R A 2R 3R A A A 0 / 5 4–5
Masters Series SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 4 0 / 5 0 / 7 0 / 5 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 42 N/A
Annual Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 4–4 3–5 13–7 7–5 15–8 6–7 0–0 4–3 0–1 N/A 52–41
Year-end ranking 329 199 93 50 13 23 30 26 20 258 178 1115 N/A

* Washington withdrew prior to his second-round match at the 1998 Australian Open

Wins over Top 10 players
Season 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Total
Wins 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 12
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score Washington
Rank
1990
1. Ivan Lendl 2 New Haven, USA Hard R32 6-2, 6-3 103
1991
2. Brad Gilbert 8 Orlando, USA Hard Quarterfinals 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-2 85
1992
3. Goran Ivanisevic 5 New Haven, USA Hard Quarterfinals 6-4, 7-5 16
1993
4. Goran Ivanisevic 3 Stockholm Masters, Sweden Carpet Quarterfinals 6-4, 7-5 33
1994
5. Michael Stich 2 Australian Open Hard R128 7-6(4), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 26
6. Michael Chang 6 Canada Masters Hard R16 6-4, 6-4 36
7. Stefan Edberg 5 Long Island, USA Hard R16 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 31
1995
8. Alberto Berasategui 8 Rome Masters, Italy Clay R64 7-5, 6-2 44
9. Andre Agassi 1 Essen, Germany Carpet R16 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 54
10. Thomas Enqvist 9 Essen, Germany Carpet Quarterfinals 7-5, 6-4 54
1996
11. Thomas Enqvist 9 Wimbledon Grass Quarterfinals 7-5, 6-2 20
12. Richard Krajicek 7 Grand Slam Cup, Germany Carpet R16 6-1, 6-2 20
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References
  1. Arace, Michael (August 15, 1990). "Pronounce MaliVai Fit for Tennis". LA Times. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  2. "Our Team". MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  3. "A Long Way From Durkeeville to Wimbledon". bigten.org. CBS Interactive. February 23, 2007. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  4. "Our Team". MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  5. "Former champions". www.mensclaycourt.com. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships.
  6. John Barrett, ed. (1997). ITF World of Tennis 1997. London: CollinsWillow. pp. 303–304. ISBN 9780002187145.
  7. Jennifer Frey (July 7, 1996). "Heir to King Arthur's court". The Washington Post.
  8. Robin Finn (July 7, 1996). "Tennis;Washington Shocks Wimbledon". The New York Times.
  9. "Krajicek wins strangest of Wimbledons". The Fort Scott Tribune. AP. July 8, 1996. p. 8.
  10. "1996 Wimbledon finalist MaliVai Washington retires". The Independent. December 4, 1999. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  11. "MaliVai Washington honored as 2009 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year". The Florida Times Union. March 27, 2010.
  12. "MaliVai Washington Receives NJTL Founders' Service Award". Arthur Ashe Learning Center. April 21, 2015.
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