Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a former Belgian professional

tennis 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 c ...

player. Born in the north-western

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

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. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is currently the Belgian No. 1, and the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10. Goffin has won six ATP titles ...

) to have been ranked in the top 20 of the

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 organisa ...

, 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 The 2002 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 116th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held ...

championships, where he reached the semi-final, beating

Galo Blanco Galo Blanco (; born 8 October 1976) is a retired professional tennis player from Oviedo, Spain. After many years as a professional tennis coach Blanco joined the Davis Cup steering committee in 2018. Tennis career Most of Blanco's early prof ...

Vince Spadea Vincent Spadea (born July 19, 1974) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He reached a career high tenth position in the ATP Champions Race in April 2003, as well as a career-high 18th ATP ranking in February 2005. He ...

Yevgeny Kafelnikov Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov ( rus, Евгений Александрович Кафельников, , jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈkafʲɪlʲnʲɪkəf, a=Ru-Yevgeny-Kafelnikov.ogg; born 18 February 1974) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis ...

and Britain's

Greg Rusedski Gregory Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a British and Canadian former tennis player. He was the British No. 1 in 1997, 1999 and 2006, and reached the ATP ranking of world No. 4 for periods from 6 October 1997 to 12 October 1997 and from 25 ...

in five sets en route, as well as former champion Richard Krajicek. He eventually lost to runner-up David Nalbandian, again in five sets. Malisse and Olivier Rochus won the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...

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

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

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 Robert Thomas "Bobby" Reynolds (born July 17, 1982) is an American retired professional tennis player who resides in Auburn, Alabama. He was named head men's tennis coach at Auburn University in June 2016. Professional career Reynolds, a nativ ...

. 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. His career-high singles ranking c ...

in the first round. At the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...

, 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 a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career tit ...

. However, in the next round, he lost to

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals ( Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

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 former professional 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 for his powerful serve ...

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 The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is ...

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

Bernard Tomic Bernard Tomic (; hr, Bernard Tomić, ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player whose career-high ranking was world No. 17. As a junior, Tomic enjoyed a successful career in which he won an Orange Bowl title and two j ...

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 world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

. 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 The ATP Champions Tour is a men's tennis tour intended for former tennis professionals, who have since retired from mainstream professional tennis touring (The ATP). The Tour brings together many of the greatest tennis players in history for nos ...

until 2018.

2021–2022

Malisse came out of retirement to play doubles at the

2021 European Open The 2021 European Open was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the sixth edition of the European Open and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2021 ATP Tour. It took place at the Lotto Arena in Antwerp, Belgium, fr ...

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 primarily specialises in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Aus ...

and Marcelo Melo en route before losing to 3rd seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Wesley Koolhof in straight sets. He also participated in the 2022 European Open having received again a wildcard to play doubles with Diego Schwartzman. In the first round they managed to beat Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, they lost to Botic van de Zandschulp and

Tallon Griekspoor Tallon Griekspoor (; born 2 July 1996) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 36, achieved on 6 March 2023. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 217 achieved on 31 Octobe ...

in two tie-breaks.https://www.esportefantastico.com.br/noticia/29893/melo-e-klaasen-param-na-primeira-rodada-em-antuerpia-na-belgica

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 of Belgium Sportspeople from Kortrijk Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida Tennis people from Florida Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles