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

tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

. 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, 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 is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

participant Victor Amaya. 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

Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl (; born March 7, 1960) is a Czech–American former professional tennis player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Lendl was ranked world No. 1 in singles for 270 weeks and won 94 singles titles. ...

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 Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

title (defeating seventh-seeded

Wayne Ferreira Wayne Richard Ferreira (born 15 September 1971) is a South African former professional tennis player and current tennis coach. Career As a junior player, Ferreira was ranked world no. 1 junior doubles player and no. 6 junior singles player. He ...

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 the ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, 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 ...

, 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 Michael Detlef Stich (, ; born 18 October 1968) is a German former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991, the men's doubles titles at both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in 1992, and was a singles r ...

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 major ...

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 of ...

and Stefan Edberg 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 riv ...

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

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ac ...

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 world No. 1 tennis player. One of the world's leading clay court players in the 1990s, he won the 1995 French Open and at his peak was called "The King of Clay". In addition, he won eig ...

). 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 pla ...

. 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 Todd Martin (born July 8, 1970) is an American retired tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the 1994 Australian Open and the 1999 US Open and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4. Playing career Martin was born ...

, 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 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 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