MaliVai "Mal" Washington ( ) (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.

Family

Washington began playing tennis aged five. Washington's younger sister, Mashona, is also a former top-50 professional tennis player. His younger brother, Mashiska, received

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, before joining the men's professional tour. MaliVai's older sister Michaela also played professionally.

Amateur tennis

As a high school senior, Washington was coached by former ATP Tour participant

Victor Amaya Victor Amaya (born July 2, 1954) is a retired tennis player from the U.S. The left-handed Amaya's career-high singles ranking was World No. 15, attained in August 1980. One of Amaya's memorable matches was a loss to Björn Borg Björn Rune ...

. For two seasons, Washington played tennis for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and was the top ranked college player in the United States at the end of his sophomore season. He left college two years into his studies to pursue a professional tennis career.

Professional career

Washington turned professional in 1989. In 1990, while ranked no. 103, he defeated world number 2

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New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

(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 The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships is an annual ATP Tour tennis tournament that started in 1910. It is the last remaining ATP World Tour-level tournament in the United States to be played on clay courts. The tournament began in 1910 when ...

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, winning the final against Claudio Mezzadri. He reached a career high ranking of 11 in October. In 1993, Washington reached his first Masters final in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, losing to Pete Sampras in straight sets. At the

1994 Australian Open The 1994 Australian Open (also known as the 1994 Ford Australian Open for sponsorship purposes) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 82nd edition of the Australi ...

, 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 Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. From 1982 to 1988, he won seven major singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one majo ...

in the fourth round. He also had wins over

Michael Chang Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old. Chang won a total o ...

and

Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 19 ...

during the US Summer hard court season, and won his third ATP-title in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four ri ...

in October. In 1995, he beat world no. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round of the

Essen Masters The Eurocard Open was an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event was held annually in Stuttgart, Germany, and was played on indoor carpet from 1988 to 1997. Before 1990, during years 1988–1989 the tournament was organiz ...

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 The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...

. On his way to the final he defeated ninth-seeded

Thomas Enqvist Thomas Karl Johan Enqvist (born 13 March 1974) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached the final of the 1999 Australian Open and won a total of 19 singles titles, including three Masters titles. He has a career high ATP world ...

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. He eventually lost the final to Richard Krajicek. 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.

Awards

In 2009 Washington won the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award, for his positive work through the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation. In 2015 Washington won the NJTL Founders' Service Award (The

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

's National Junior Tennis League), for his continued contribution since retirement to support education and tennis among children and young people (particularly those underprivileged).

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

ATP Tour finals

Singles (4 titles, 9 runner-ups)

Doubles (1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

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

Wins over Top 10 players

References

External links

* * *
MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Malivai 1969 births Living people African-American sports journalists American sports journalists African-American male tennis players American male tennis players American color commentators Hopman Cup competitors Michigan Wolverines men's tennis players Olympic tennis players of the United States Sportspeople from Glen Cove, New York People from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan Tennis commentators Tennis people from Michigan Tennis people from New York (state) Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople