Introduction
MaliVai "Mal" Washington (/mælᵻˈviːə/ mal-i-VEE-ə; is an American former professional tennis player. He reached the Men's Singles final at Wimbledon in 1996, won 4 titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 11.
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.
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.
Grand Slam singles final
Runner-up (1)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| Runner-up | 1996 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Richard Krajicek | 3–6, 4–6, 3–6 |
ATP Tour finals
Singles champion (4)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Championship Series (1) |
| ATP Tour (3) |
| Outcome | No. | Date | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | January 6, 1992 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard |  Jaime Yzaga | 6–7(6–8), 4–6 |
| Winner | 1. | February 10, 1992 | Memphis, U.S. | Hard (i) |  Wayne Ferreira | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 2. | April 13, 1992 | Tampa, U.S. | Clay | Jaime Yzaga | 6–3, 4–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 2. | May 4, 1992 | Charlotte, U.S. | Clay |  Claudio Mezzadri | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 3. | June 15, 1992 | Manchester, U.K. | Grass | Jacco Eltingh | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | August 17, 1992 | New Haven, U.S. | Hard |  Stefan Edberg | 6–7(4–7), 1–6 |
| Runner-up | 5. | January 11, 1993 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard |  Alexander Volkov | 6–7(2–7), 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | March 12, 1993 | Miami, U.S. | Hard |  Pete Sampras | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 3. | October 10, 1994 | Ostrava, Czech Republic | Carpet (i) |  Arnaud Boetsch | 4–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 7. | October 9, 1995 | Ostrava, Czech Republic | Carpet (i) |  Wayne Ferreira | 6–3, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 8. | October 23, 1995 | Essen, Germany | Carpet (i) |  Thomas Muster | 6–7(6–8), 6–2, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 4. | April 15, 1996 | Bermuda | Clay |  Marcelo Filippini | 6–7(6–8), 6–4, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 9. | July 7, 1996 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Richard Krajicek | 3–6, 4–6, 3–6 |
Doubles finalist (1)
- 1995: Bogotá (with Steve Campbell, lost to Jiří Novák and David Rikl)
Performance Timeline
Singles
| Tournament | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | Career SR | Career 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 | |||
| U.S. 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 | 3R | 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