Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed X-Man, he is one of only two Belgian men (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.

He was banned for a year over doping allegations.

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.

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 until 2018.

2021–2022 Malisse came out of retirement to play doubles at the 2021 European Open having received a wildcard alongside Lloyd Harris whom he was coaching. The pair made the semifinals defeating top seeds Ivan Dodig 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 in two tie-breaks.

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1–0) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin2004French OpenClay Olivier Rochus Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro7–5, 7–5

Masters 1000 finals

Doubles: 1 (1–0) ResultYearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin2011Indian WellsHard Alexandr Dolgopolov Roger Federer Stan Wawrinka6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–7]

ATP career finals

Singles: 12 (3 titles, 9 runners-up) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (0–0)Tennis Masters Cup / ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–9)Titles by surfaceHard (3–4)Clay (0–4)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–1)Titles by settingOutdoor (3–8)Indoor (0–1)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Mexican Open, MexicoWorld SeriesClay Jiří Novák3–6, 3–6Loss0–2Delray Beach ITC, USWorld SeriesClay Lleyton Hewitt4–6, 7–6(7–2), 1–6Loss0–3Delray Beach ITC, USInternationalHard Jan-Michael Gambill5–7, 4–6Loss0–4Atlanta Tennis Challenge, USInternationalClay Andy Roddick2–6, 4–6Loss0–5St. Pölten Open, AustriaInternationalClay Filippo Volandri1–6, 4–6Loss0–6Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, FranceInternationalCarpet (i) Robin Söderling2–6, 6–3, 4–6Win1–6Delray Beach ITC, USInternationalHard Jiří Novák7–6(8–6), 6–2Loss1–7Adelaide International, AustraliaInternationalHard Florent Serra3–6, 4–6Loss1–8Delray Beach ITC, USInternationalHard Tommy Haas3–6, 6–3, 6–7(5–7)Win2–8Chennai Open, IndiaInternationalHard Stefan Koubek6–1, 6–3Win3–8Delray Beach ITC, US (2)InternationalHard James Blake5–7, 6–4, 6–4Loss3–9Chennai Open, India250 SeriesHard Stanislas Wawrinka5–7, 6–4, 1–6

Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runners-up) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (1–0)Tennis Masters Cup / ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (1–0)ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (7–4)Titles by surfaceHard (8–3)Clay (1–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Titles by settingOutdoor (7–3)Indoor (2–1)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0French Open, FranceGrand SlamClay Olivier Rochus Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro7–5, 7–5Win2–0Adelaide International, AustraliaInternationalHard Olivier Rochus Simon Aspelin Todd Perry7–6(7–5), 6–4Win3–0Chennai Open, IndiaInternationalHard Dick Norman Rafael Nadal Bartolomé Salvá Vidal7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–4)Win4–0Delray Beach ITC, USInternationalHard Hugo Armando James Auckland Stephen Huss6–3, 6–7(4–7), [10–5]Loss4–1Auckland Open, New ZealandInternationalHard Jürgen Melzer Luis Horna Juan Mónaco4–6, 6–3, [7–10]Loss4–2Pacific Coast Championships, US250 SeriesHard (i) Alejandro Falla Scott Lipsky Rajeev Ram4–6, 6–4, [8–10]Win5–2Indian Wells Masters, USMasters 1000Hard Alexandr Dolgopolov Roger Federer Stanislas Wawrinka6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–7]Win6–2Los Angeles Open, US250 SeriesHard Mark Knowles Somdev Devvarman Treat Huey7–6(7–3), 7–6(12–10)Win7–2Pacific Coast Championships, US250 SeriesHard (i) Mark Knowles Kevin Anderson Frank Moser6–4, 1–6, [10–5]Loss7–3Bavarian Championships, Germany250 SeriesClay Dick Norman František Čermák Filip Polášek4–6, 5–7Loss7–4Atlanta Open, US250 SeriesHard Michael Russell Matthew Ebden Ryan Harrison3–6, 6–3, [6–10]Win8–4Los Angeles Open, US (2)250 SeriesHard Ruben Bemelmans Jamie Delgado Ken Skupski7–6(7–5), 4–6, [10–7]Win9–4Pacific Coast Championships, US (2)250 SeriesHard (i) Frank Moser Lleyton Hewitt Marinko Matosevic6–0, 6–7(5–7), [10–4]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 7 (4–3) LegendATP Challenger (4–3)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (4–3)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0San Antonio, United StatesChallengerHard Ronald Agénor7–6(7–3), 6–3Loss1–1Mons, BelgiumChallengerHard Olivier Rochus2–6, 0–6Win2–1Moncton, CanadaChallengerHard Danai Udomchoke6–4, 6–4Win3–1Granby, CanadaChallengerHard Kevin Anderson6–4, 6–4Loss3–2Vancouver, CanadaChallengerHard Marcos Baghdatis4–6, 4–6Loss3–3St. Remy, FranceChallengerHard Marcos Baghdatis4–6, 1–6Win4–3Orleans, FranceChallengerHard Stéphane Robert6–1, 6–2

Doubles: 4 (2–2) LegendATP Challenger (2–2)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Clay (1–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Ostend, BelgiumChallengerClay Wim Neefs Marcos Ondruska Steven Randjelovic2–6, 4–6Win1–1Bogotá, ColombiaChallengerClay Carlos Salamanca Juan Sebastián Cabal Michael Quintero6–1, 6–4Win2–1Donetsk, UkraineChallengerHard Dick Norman Harel Levy Noam Okun4–6, 6–1, [13–11]Loss2–2Orleans, FranceChallengerHard Ken Skupski Lukáš Dlouhý Gilles Müller2–6, 7–6(7–5), [7–10]

Performance timelines

Singles Tournament1998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013W–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAA2R3R1R1R2R1R1R2R1R3R1R2R8–12French OpenA1RA3R4R3R4R2R1RAAA2R2R1R1R13–11WimbledonA1RA2RSF1R4R2R2RA2R1R3R4R4R1R20–13US OpenA3R2R4R3R4R1R4R3R2RQ1Q11R1R1R1R17–13Win–loss0–02–31–16–311–47–46–45–44–41–21–21–23–46–43–41–458–49ATP Masters SeriesIndian Wells MastersA3RAA1R2R2R1R3RA2RAA3R2R1R10–10Miami MastersA1R2RA1R2R3R2R2RA3RA1R2R2R3R10–12Monte Carlo MastersAAAA1R1R1R2R1RA1RAA1RA1R1–8Rome MastersAAAA3R1RAA2RAAAA2RQ21R4–5Madrid MastersAAAA2RA1RA1RAAAA3RA1R3–5Canada MastersAAA1R1R1R1R3RQFAAA2RAA1R6–8Cincinnati MastersA1RA2R3R2R1R1R1RAAAA1RAA4–8Shanghai MastersNot Masters SeriesAAAAA0–0Paris MastersAAA3R2RA2R1R1RAAA1RAAA4–6Hamburg MastersAAAA1R2R1RA1RA1RNMS1–5Win–loss0–02–31–13–36–93–74–83–67–90–03–40–01–36–62–22–643–67Career statisticsTitles–Finals0–10–10–00–20–00–00–21–10–22–20–00–00–00–10–00–03–12Year-end ranking16114512733255548473711216294604947135

Doubles Tournament20032004200520062007200820092010201120122013W–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian Open2R2R2R2R1R1RAA2R1R2R6–9French Open2RW3RQFAAA1R2R3R1R15–7Wimbledon2R2R3RAAAA1RA1R2R5–6US Open2R1RA1RAAA1R3R1R1R3–7Win–loss4–48–35–34–30–10–10–00–34–32–42–429–29

Top 10 wins Season1998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013TotalWins000231102210201116

#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScore20011. Marat Safin2Los Angeles, United StatesHard2R7–5, 6–32. Tim Henman9US Open, New York, United StatesHard3R6–7(6–8), 6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–420023. Marat Safin6Rome, ItalyClay2R6–3, 6–44. Tim Henman6French Open, Paris, FranceClay2R6–2, 3–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–35. Yevgeny Kafelnikov6Wimbledon, London, United KingdomGrass3R7–6(7–4), 7–5, 6–120036. Lleyton Hewitt6Cincinnati, United StatesHard1R3–6, 6–4, 6–220047. Rainer Schüttler7French Open, Paris, FranceClay1R6–4, 7–5, 6–420068. Gastón Gaudio8Rome, ItalyClay1R4–6, 6–3, 6–39. Nikolay Davydenko5Toronto, CanadaHard1R6–3, 7–5200710. Rafael Nadal2Chennai, IndiaHardSF6–4, 7–6(7–4)11. James Blake6Delray Beach, United StatesHardF5–7, 6–4, 6–4200812. David Nalbandian7Miami, United StatesHard2R6–1, 6–4201013. Novak Djokovic3Queen's Club, London, United KingdomGrass3R6–3, 4–6, 6–214. Tomáš Berdych8Washington, D.C., United StatesHardQF6–4, 3–6, 6–2201215. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga7Valencia, SpainHard (i)1R3–1, ret.201316. David Ferrer4Rosmalen, NetherlandsGrass1R7–6(7–3), 6–3

References

External links