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Pronounce MaliVai Fit for Tennis

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HARTFORD COURANT

It’s pronounced Mal-uh-VEE-uh, by the way.

MaliVai Washington, victor over Ivan Lendl in the second round of the Volvo International tennis tournament, wanted to get that straight. “And that’s with a capital V,” he said.

With the pronunciation and spelling straightened out, Washington sat back and regaled his questioners moments after he stunned Lendl, the second-ranked tennis player in the world, 6-2, 6-3 Tuesday night. Washington, ranked 103rd, won in only 1 hour, 13 minutes.

“Yeah,” Washington admitted, it felt pretty good. “When you beat one of the best guys in the world, it’s got to be a highlight.”

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The crowd of 11,000 was behind Washington at the start. With his artful footwork, big serve and quick hands, Washington manhandled Lendl amid growing cheers in the first set.

In the second set, the crowd swung toward top-seeded Lendl, a Greenwich, Conn., resident. Lendl is semi-local, after all. He’s also the top seed and the top draw here.

Not anymore. That’s because Washington’s confidence never wavered.

“At the start of the match they announce that he’s won over 80 tournaments, and then there’s me, who’s won some college tournament. . . . Well, you’ve just got to put that out of your mind,” Washington said. “I’m sure that sometimes he can use that as an intimidator.

“But I have to say to myself, ‘Hey, I’m just playing another guy on the other side of the net.’ ”

Washington, 21, won the 1988 Volvo Collegiate Championship in Athens, Ga. After two years at the University of Michigan, Washington turned pro last year.

In his last appearance in New Haven, Washington lost to somebody named Buff Farrow in the first round of the 1989 Pilot Pen Open, a pro satellite tournament also played at Yale.

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Washington’s previous best victory was over Christo Van Rensburg, ranked 30th in the world. Yet, when Washington beat the No.2, he was about as frayed as a broken racket string.

Brian Gottfried said that’s about normal for Washington, a native of Swartz Creek, Mich. Gottfried, a former top-10 player, is an Assn. of Tennis Professionals tour director and a U.S. Tennis Assn. coach who has had Washington under his wing for a time.

“Mal’s father worked with him when he was young, and set the important foundation,” Gottfried said. “Mal feels things are pretty simple: You work hard, and you do well.”

But who expected this?

“I didn’t,” Gottfried said. “I never thought he had a chance.” Then Gottfried paused. “Just teasing.”

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