MaliVai "Mal" Washington ( ) (born June 20, 1969) is an American former professional

tennis player Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. He reached the men's singles final at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, 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 on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors at

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

, 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 The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...

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. During his career he won three ATP singles titles and six doubles titles, i ...

. For two seasons, Washington played tennis for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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

Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl (; born March 7, 1960) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player and coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis ...

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

(6–3, 6–2). During his breakthrough year in 1992, Washington won the Memphis title (defeating seventh-seeded

Wayne Ferreira Wayne Richard Ferreira (born 15 September 1971) is a South African tennis coach and a former professional player. Ferreira won 15 ATP singles titles and 11 doubles titles. His career-high rankings were world No. 6 in singles (in May 1995) and ...

in the final) and the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, winning the final against

Claudio Mezzadri Claudio Mezzadri (; born 10 June 1965) is a retired professional tennis player from Switzerland. Mezzadri turned professional in 1983, and won his only ATP singles title four years later in Geneva. He also won four doubles titles in his career. H ...

. He reached a career high ranking of 11 in October. In 1993, Washington reached his first Masters final in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, losing to

Pete Sampras Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...

in straight sets. At the 1994 Australian Open, Washington reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, after a win over second-seeded

Michael Stich Michael Detlef Stich (; born 18 October 1968) is a German former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in 1993, and No. 9 in men's doubles, achieved in ...

in the first round and a five-set victory against

Mats Wilander Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

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 was ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1996. Chang is the youngest man in history to win a singl ...

and

Stefan Edberg Jan Stefan Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), one of two players in the ...

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

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

in October. In 1995, he beat world no. 1

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...

in the third round of the Essen Masters on his way to the final (where he lost to

Thomas Muster Thomas Muster (born 2 October 1967) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 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 called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

. 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 worl ...

in the second round, and came back from a 1–5 deficit in the fifth set of the semifinal to beat

Todd Martin Todd Martin (born July 8, 1970) is an American retired tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players ea ...

, 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 Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (; born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player and tournament director. Krajicek won 17 singles titles during his career, including the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first (an ...

. He gained revenge against Krajicek in the

Grand Slam Cup The Grand Slam Cup was a tennis tournament held annually at the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany from 1990 through 1999. The event was organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which invited the best-performing players in the year's ...

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 Sport governing body, 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 devel ...

'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 tennis players American male tennis players American color commentators Hopman Cup competitors Michigan Wolverines men's tennis players Olympic tennis players for the United States Sportspeople from Glen Cove, New York Tennis players from Nassau County, New York Tennis players from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan American tennis commentators Tennis players from Michigan Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen