Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse is a Belgian retired professional tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed X-Man, he is only one of two players from Belgium 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
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.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)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 1998 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Singles| | Mexican Open, Mexico | World Series | Clay |  Jiří Novák | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | 1999 Citrix Tennis Championships – Singles| | Delray Beach ITC, US | World Series | Clay |  Lleyton Hewitt | 4–6, 7–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | 2001 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships – Singles| | Delray Beach ITC, US | International | Hard |  Jan-Michael Gambill | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–4 | 2001 Verizon Tennis Challenge – Singles| | Atlanta Tennis Challenge, US | International | Clay | Andy Roddick | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–5 | St. Pölten Open, Austria | International | Clay |  Filippo Volandri | 1–6, 4–6 | |
| Loss | 0–6 | 2004 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon – Singles| | Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, France | International | Carpet |  Robin Söderling | 2–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–6 | 2005 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships – Singles| | Delray Beach ITC, US | International | Hard | Jiří Novák | 7–6, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–7 | 2006 Next Generation Adelaide International – Singles| | Adelaide International, Australia | International | Hard |  Florent Serra | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–8 | 2006 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships – Singles| | Delray Beach ITC, US | International | Hard |  Tommy Haas | 3–6, 6–3, 6–7 |
| Win | 2–8 | 2007 Chennai Open – Singles| | Chennai Open, India | International | Hard |  Stefan Koubek | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–8 | 2007 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships – Singles| | Delray Beach ITC, US | International | Hard | James Blake | 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–9 | 2011 Aircel Chennai Open – Singles| | Chennai Open, India | 250 Series | Hard |  Stanislas Wawrinka | 5–7, 6–4, 1–6 |
Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runners-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | 2004 French Open – Men's Doubles| | French Open, France | Grand Slam | Clay |  Olivier Rochus | Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro | 7–5, 7–5 |
| Win | 2–0 | 2005 Next Generation Hardcourts – Doubles| | Adelaide International, Australia | International | Hard | Olivier Rochus | Simon Aspelin Todd Perry | 7–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–0 | 2007 Chennai Open – Doubles| | Chennai Open, India | International | Hard | Dick Norman |  Rafael Nadal Bartolomé Salvá Vidal | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Win | 4–0 | 2007 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships – Doubles| | Delray Beach ITC, US | International | Hard | Hugo Armando |  James Auckland Stephen Huss | 6–3, 6–7, |
| Loss | 4–1 | 2008 Heineken Open – Doubles| | Auckland Open, New Zealand | International | Hard | Jürgen Melzer |  Luis Horna Juan Mónaco | 4–6, 6–3, |
| Loss | 4–2 | 2011 SAP Open – Doubles| | Pacific Coast Championships, US | 250 Series | Hard |  Alejandro Falla | Scott Lipsky Rajeev Ram | 4–6, 6–4, |
| Win | 5–2 | 2011 BNP Paribas Open – Men's Doubles| | Indian Wells Masters, US | Masters 1000 | Hard |  Alexandr Dolgopolov | Roger Federer Stanislas Wawrinka | 6–4, 6–7, |
| Win | 6–2 | 2011 Farmers Classic – Doubles| | Los Angeles Open, US | 250 Series | Hard |  Mark Knowles |  Somdev Devvarman Treat Huey | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Win | 7–2 | 2012 SAP Open – Doubles| | Pacific Coast Championships, US | 250 Series | Hard | Mark Knowles |  Kevin Anderson Frank Moser | 6–4, 1–6, |
| Loss | 7–3 | 2012 BMW Open – Doubles| | Bavarian Championships, Germany | 250 Series | Clay | Dick Norman | František Čermák Filip Polášek | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 7–4 | 2012 BB&T Atlanta Open – Doubles| | Atlanta Open, US | 250 Series | Hard | Michael Russell | Matthew Ebden Ryan Harrison | 3–6, 6–3, |
| Win | 8–4 | 2012 Farmers Classic – Doubles| | Los Angeles Open, US | 250 Series | Hard | Ruben Bemelmans | Jamie Delgado Ken Skupski | 7–6, 4–6, |
| Win | 9–4 | 2013 SAP Open – Doubles| | Pacific Coast Championships, US | 250 Series | Hard | Frank Moser | Lleyton Hewitt Marinko Matosevic | 6–0, 6–7, |