Age No Obstacle To Xavier Malisse – By: Matt Cronin

Written by: Staff on 15th January 2013

Age No Obstacle To Xavier Malisse - By: Matt Cronin |

By Matt Cronin

MELBOURNE – Xavier Malisse is part of an increasingly large group of veteran players who continue to impress, even though they have passed the age of 30. The former Wimbledon finalist has begun his 15th full on tour and shows no sign of quitting.

On Monday at the Australian Open he easily dispatched of Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 and will face 22nd seed Fernando Verdasco in the second round.

Malisse is now 32 years old, but has taken the long view on his carrer. Ranked No 55, he is well off his career high of No. 19 that he achieved in 2002 when he reached the Wimbledon semifinals. He upset British favorite Greg Rusedski in the fourth round, and 1996 champion Richard Krajicek in the quarterfinals before going down to David Nalbandian in the semis. Then, he became the first Belgian to reach semis since Paul de Borman did it in 1904.

Today, when he watches his friend the 31-year-old Roger Federer win trophies, or the 34-year-old Tommy Haas become a top-20 player again, he knows that he can remain relevant. He may not be as fats as he once was, but he’s still pretty quick and he has great deal more knowledge about how to win matches now.

But back in 2008-2009 when he was suffering from a debilitating right wrist injury and was forced to go down to tennis’ minor leagues to pick his ranking up again, his prospects weren’t looking up.

But he stuck with it and has once again prospered.

“I’m really happy,” he said last summer. “It’s tough to play Challengers at the end of the world but I wanted to give it one more go. Some Challengers are OK but others aren’t. It’s a mindset. If you go there and are not prepared mentally and have some bad food, stay in a bad hotel in a bad area and you can’ handle it, then it’s better to stop. But I got my courage together to do it. It can be tough to find motivation, but once you get it then you feel you want to do it. I got through it pretty good and if you win a tournament, you get your confidence back.”

It took until 2011 for the all-courter to show he wasn’t finessed as he broke back into the top 50 for the first time since 2006. He reached the final of Chennai, the semis of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the quarters of Metz and Vienna, and the fourth round of Wimbledon, where he took out seeds Florian Mayer and Jurgen Melzer.

After starting 2012 slowly, he picked up steam in the summer, reaching the quarters a Queens, the semis at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the fourth round of at Wimbledon again, where he upset Verdasco and Giles Simon he fell to Federer in four sets.

“He can do anything and everything with the ball, but even for him it’s tougher than it was year ago,” Malisse said of Federer, But to get back to No. 1 again – that what makes him all the more special.”

He then hit the hard courts, where reached the quarters of Los Angeles and Washington. He’s no slouch in doubles either, winning 2012 titles in San Jose with the now-retired Mark Knowles and Los Angeles with Ruben Bemelmans, who wears the 10sballs.com patch, just like Malisse does.

“It was nice to be back in the top 50 after you’ve been down to 350 in the world,” said Malisse. “It’s a long road, but when you get back there, it’s a good feeling because you know you’ve worked hard to get there.”

Malisse, who has won three career singles titles including two at Delray Beach, and would love to win another title, but he’s focused more on competing well than results.

The Belgian has put a lot more time improving his fitness, which is why he does not become injured as much anymore and manages to stay competitive. Every year, the players gets bigger, stronger and more powerful. When he started playing back in 1998, the equipment was different, as was the quality of the competition.

The players become more talented every season, which means there is no cruising through early rounds anymore.

“If you don’t play well you are going home,” he said. “Everyone is in good physical shape and the field is so wide. There was more variety back then, but the game wasn’t as fast as it is now.”

Topics: Australian Open, Australian tennis news, Federer, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Xavier Malisse

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xmalissesite says:

January 15, 2013 at 7:14 am

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