Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian

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 each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

coach and a former professional player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being

David Goffin David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...

) to have been ranked in the top 20 of the

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 ...

, with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19.

Career

Juniors

As a junior Malisse compiled a singles win–loss record of 66–18, reaching as high as No. 10 in the junior world singles rankings in 1997. He made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1997, whilst his final junior tournament was winning Eddie Herr later that year.

1998–2008

Malisse turned professional in 1998. His best performance in Grand Slam singles competition was at the 2002 Wimbledon championships, where he reached the semi-final, beating Galo Blanco, Vince Spadea,

Yevgeny Kafelnikov Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov ( rus, Евгений Александрович Кафельников, , jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈkafʲɪlʲnʲɪkəf, a=Ru-Yevgeny-Kafelnikov.ogg; born 18 February 1974) is a Russian former professional tennis p ...

and Britain's Greg Rusedski in five sets en route, as well as former champion

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 eventually lost to runner-up

David Nalbandian David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...

, again in five sets. Malisse and

Olivier Rochus Olivier Rochus (; born 18 January 1981) is a former Belgian tennis player. Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 won the French Open doubles title, partnering fellow Belgian Xavier Malisse. His career-high singles ranking is wo ...

won the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

doubles championship in 2004. He has won three ATP tour singles titles: Delray Beach in 2005 and 2007, and

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

in 2007.

2009

After a difficult year, Malisse found himself with a world ranking of 205. In his first tournament of the year in Brisbane, he lost in the last qualifying round to American Bobby Reynolds. A week later, in Medibank International Sydney, he reached the main draw, but lost to

Mario Ančić Mario Ančić (; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles on the ATP Tour. Ančić's career- ...

in the first round. At the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

, he first won his qualifying matches. In the first round of the main draw, he defeated

Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...

. However, in the next round, he lost to

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...

in four sets. In October, he won a Challenger tournament in Lyon, and this pushed him back into the world's top 100 for the first time in nearly two years. He was banned for a year over doping allegations.

2010

Malisse lost in the third round of Wimbledon to

Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...

in five sets.

2011

Xavier started the 2011 season by reaching the final of

. In March, he won the doubles title in the Indian Wells Masters with

Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the qu ...

of Ukraine. He reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, where he lost to

Bernard Tomic Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tomic has won four singles titles on the ATP To ...

2012

Xavier reached the fourth round of Wimbledon where he faced

Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss 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) for 3 ...

. Federer won the first two sets and went a break up in the third, but Malisse came back to win the third set and move 2–0 in the fourth. Federer subsequently won six out of the next seven games to win the match and went on to win the Title.

2016–2018

After retiring in 2013 and competing in an ITF doubles event in 2015, Malisse entered the 2016 Meerbusch Challenger in doubles, ultimately conceding a walkover to end his playing career. He then participated in the ATP Champions Tour until 2018.

2021–2022

Malisse came out of retirement to play doubles at the 2021 European Open having received a wildcard alongside Lloyd Harris whom he was coaching. The pair made the semifinals defeating top seeds

Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 2 in September 2023. He is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's double ...

and

Marcelo Melo Marcelo Pinheiro Davi de Melo (; born September 23, 1983) is a Brazilian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He is a former List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1, which he achieved in 2 November 2015. ...

en route before losing to 3rd seeds

Jean-Julien Rojer Jean-Julien Rojer ( "John Julian" , ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specializes in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015. He is a four-time Grand Sla ...

and

Wesley Koolhof Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch former professional tennis player who was ranked World No. 1 in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2023 Wimbledon Championships in men's doubles with Neal Skupski an ...

in straight sets. He also participated in the

2022 European Open The 2022 European Open (tennis) , European Open was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the seventh edition of the European Open (tennis), European Open and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2022 ATP Tour. It took ...

having received again a wildcard to play doubles with

Diego Schwartzman Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist ...

. In the first round they managed to beat

Raven Klaasen Raven Klaasen ( ; born 16 October 1982) is a South African professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 in August 2019, and has won 19 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, includi ...

and

in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, they lost to Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor in two tie-breaks.

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Masters 1000 finals

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

ATP career finals

Singles: 12 (3 titles, 9 runners-up)

Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runners-up)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 7 (4–3)

Doubles: 4 (2–2)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Top 10 wins

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malisse, Xavier 1980 births Belgian expatriates in the United States Belgian male tennis players Doping cases in tennis French Open champions Hopman Cup competitors Living people Olympic tennis players for Belgium Sportspeople from Kortrijk Tennis players from Sarasota, Florida Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles 21st-century Belgian sportsmen