MaliVai Washington

MaliVai "Mal" Washington (/mælɪˈviːə/ mal-i-VEE-ə) (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's younger sister, Mashona, is also an accomplished professional tennis player. She was a member of the 1992 U.S. National Team. 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.[1]

Amateur tennis

As a high school senior, at Carman – Ainsworth High School in Flint Township, 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.[1]

Professional career

Washington turned professional in 1989 and won his first ATP singles title at the 1992 indoor tournament in Memphis after defeating seventh-seeded Wayne Ferreira in the final in straight sets. He followed up with a second singles title in May that year at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina, winning the final against Claudio Mezzadri.[2][3]

Washington made his debut at a Grand Slam event at the 1989 US Open where he reached the second round. He reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 1994 Australian Open after a win over second-seeded Michael Stich in the first round and a five-set victory against Mats Wilander in the fourth round. In the quarterfinal he lost to ninth-seeded Todd Martin in straight sets. 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.[4][5] He lost the final in three straight sets to Richard Krajicek.[3][6]

He was twice runner-up in ATP Masters Series events:- 1993 Miami Masters (losing to Pete Sampras) and 1995 Essen Masters (losing to Thomas Muster).

Washington reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 11 on October 26, 1992.

Awards

In 2009 Washington won the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award, for his positive work through the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation.[7]

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).[8]

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

References
  1. "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.
  2. "Former champions". www.mensclaycourt.com. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships.
  3. John Barrett, ed. (1997). ITF World of Tennis 1997. London: CollinsWillow. pp. 303–304. ISBN 9780002187145.
  4. Jennifer Frey (July 7, 1996). "Heir to King Arthur's court". The Washington Post.
  5. Robin Finn (July 7, 1996). "Tennis;Washington Shocks Wimbledon". The New York Times.
  6. "Krajicek wins strangest of Wimbledons". The Fort Scott Tribune. AP. July 8, 1996. p. 8.
  7. "MaliVai Washington honored as 2009 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year". The Florida Times Union. March 27, 2010.
  8. "MaliVai Washington Receives NJTL Founders' Service Award". Arthur Ashe Learning Center. April 21, 2015.
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