Introduction
Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a retired Belgian tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed X-Man, he is only one of two players from Belgium (the other being David Goffin) to have been ranked in the top 20 of the ATP tour, 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 and Britain's Greg Rusedski 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 doubles championship in 2004. He has won three ATP tour singles titles: Delray Beach in 2005 and 2007, and Chennai 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 in the first round.
At the Australian Open, he first won his qualifying matches. In the first round of the main draw, he defeated Michaël Llodra. However, in the next round, he lost to Andy Roddick 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.
2010
Malisse lost in the third round of Wimbledon to Sam Querrey in five sets.
2011
Xavier started the 2011 season by reaching the final of Chennai. In March, he won the doubles title in the Indian Wells Masters with Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. He reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, where he lost to Bernard Tomic.
2012
Xavier reached the fourth round of Wimbledon where he faced Roger Federer. 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.
Personal life
Malisse was previously in a relationship with American tennis player Jennifer Capriati.
Significant finals
Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 1 (1-0)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2004 | French Open | Clay |  Olivier Rochus |  Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro | 7–5, 7–5 |
Masters 1000 finals
Doubles: 1 (1-0)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2011 | Indian Wells | Hard |  Alexandr Dolgopolov |  Roger Federer Stanislas Wawrinka | 6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–7] |
ATP career finals
Singles: 12 (3-9)
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| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 1 November 1998 | Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Mexico City, Mexico | Clay |  Jiří Novák | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 10 May 1999 | Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, United States | Clay |  Lleyton Hewitt | 4–6, 7–6(7–2), 1–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 12 March 2001 | Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, United States | Hard |  Jan-Michael Gambill | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 30 April 2001 | Verizon Tennis Challenge, Atlanta, United States | Clay | Andy Roddick | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 24 May 2004 | Hypo Group Tennis International, St. Pölten, Austria | Clay |  Filippo Volandri | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 11 October 2004 | Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Lyon, France | Carpet |  Robin Söderling | 2–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 31 January 2005 | Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, United States | Hard | Jiří Novák | 7–6(8–6), 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 9 January 2006 | Next Generation Adelaide International, Adelaide, Australia | Hard | Florent Serra | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 8. | 6 February 2006 | Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, United States | Hard |  Tommy Haas | 3–6, 6–3, 6–7(5–7) |
| Winner | 2. | 1 January 2007 | Chennai Open, Chennai, India | Hard |  Stefan Koubek | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Winner | 3. | 28 January 2007 | Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, United States | Hard | James Blake | 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 9. | 11 January 2011 | Chennai Open, Chennai, India | Hard | Stanislas Wawrinka | 5–7, 6–4, 1–6 |
Doubles: 13 (9-4)
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| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 24 May 2004 | French Open, Paris, France | Clay | Olivier Rochus | Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro | 7–5, 7–5 |
| Winner | 2. | 3 January 2005 | ATP Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia | Hard | Olivier Rochus | Simon Aspelin Todd Perry | 7–6, 6–4 |
| Winner | 3. | 1 January 2007 | ATP Chennai, Chennai, India | Hard | Dick Norman |  Rafael Nadal Bartolomé Salvá | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 28 January 2007 | ATP Delray Beach, Delray Beach, United States | Hard | Hugo Armando |  James Auckland Stephen Huss | 6–3, 6–7, [10–5] |
| Runner-up | 1. | 15 January 2008 | Heineken Open, Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | Jürgen Melzer |  Luis Horna Juan Mónaco | 4–6, 6–3, [7–10] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 13 February 2011 | SAP Open, San Jose, United States | Hard (i) |  Alejandro Falla | Scott Lipsky Rajeev Ram | 4–6, 6–4, [8–10] |
| Winner | 5. | 18 March 2011 | BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, United States | Hard | Alexandr Dolgopolov | Roger Federer Stanislas Wawrinka | 6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–7] |
| Winner | 6. | 31 July 2011 | Farmers Classic, Los Angeles, United States | Hard |  Mark Knowles |  Somdev Devvarman Treat Conrad Huey | 7–6(7–3), 7–6(12–10) |
| Winner | 7. | 19 February 2012 | SAP Open, San Jose, United States | Hard (i) | Mark Knowles |  Kevin Anderson Frank Moser | 6–4, 1–6, [10–5] |
| Runner-up | 3. | 6 May 2012 | BMW Open, Munich, Germany | Clay | Dick Norman | František Čermák Filip Polášek | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 22 July 2012 | BB&T Atlanta Open, Atlanta, United States | Hard | Michael Russell | Matthew Ebden Ryan Harrison | 3-6, 6-3, [6-10] |
| Winner | 8. | 30 July 2012 | Farmers Classic, Los Angeles, United States | Hard | Ruben Bemelmans | Jamie Delgado Ken Skupski | 7–6(7–5), 4–6, [10-7] |
| Winner | 9. | 17 February 2013 | SAP Open, San Jose, United States | Hard (i) | Frank Moser | Lleyton Hewitt Marinko Matosevic | 6–0, 6–7(4–7), [10–4] |
Singles performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | NH |
Current till 2013 Wimbledon Championships.
| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 8–12 | |
| French Open | A | 1R | A | 3R | 4R | 3R | 4R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 13–11 | |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | A | 2R | SF | 1R | 4R | 2R | 2R | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 20–13 | |
| US Open | A | 3R | 2R | 4R | 3R | 4R | 1R | 4R | 3R | 2R | Q1 | Q1 | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 17–13 | |
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 6–3 | 11–4 | 7–4 | 6–4 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 58–49 | |
| ATP Masters Series | ||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | 3R | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | A | 2R | A | A | 3R | 2R | 1R | 10–10 | |
| Miami Masters | A | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | A | 3R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 10–12 | |
| Monte Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | 1–8 | |
| Rome Masters | A | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 2R | Q2 | 1R | 4–5 | |
| Madrid Masters | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | 1R | 3–5 | |
| Canada Masters | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | QF | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | 6–7 | |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | 1R | A | 2R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 4–8 | |
| Shanghai Masters | Not Masters Series | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |||||||||||
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | 3R | 2R | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 4–6 | |
| Hamburg Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | A | 1R | NMS | 1–5 | |||||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 6–9 | 3–7 | 4–8 | 3–6 | 7–9 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 6–6 | 2–2 | 2–5 | 43–66 | |
| Career Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Titles–Finals | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–12 | |
| Year End Ranking | 161 | 145 | 127 | 33 | 25 | 55 | 48 | 47 | 37 | 112 | 162 | 94 | 60 | 49 | 47 | 135 | ||
Doubles performance timeline
This table is current through US Open.
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | W–L | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 6–9 | |||||||||
| French Open | 2R | W | 3R | QF | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 15–7 | ||||||||||
| Wimbledon | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 5–6 | ||||||||||||
| US Open | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 3–7 | |||||||||||
| Win–Loss | 4–4 | 8–3 | 5–3 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 29–29 | |||||||