Junior and college career

After being awarded a scholarship to the Nick Bollettieri's famed academy at 10 years old, Knowles played junior tennis in his early years. His best singles performance came at the 1989 Junior US Open with a quarterfinal appearance and his best doubles performance came at the 1989 Junior French Open with a final appearance partnering Luis Herrera. He reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 12.^[1] He also played three seasons at UCLA in college tennis, where he earned All-American honours in both singles and doubles before turning pro in 1992.

Professional career

Knowles's highest ATP singles ranking was world No. 96, the highest ever ranked Bahamian in history alongside Roger Smith. He was very successful in doubles, partnering Daniel Nestor, Mahesh Bhupathi. With Nestor, Knowles won the 2002 Australian Open, the 2004 US Open and the 2007 French Open. He also won the 2009 Wimbledon Mixed doubles title with Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany.

On 5 July 2006, Knowles and Nestor participated in one of the longest matches in Wimbledon history. Their quarterfinal match against Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Australian Todd Perry lasted 6 hours and 9 minutes, with Knowles and Nestor eventually winning 5–7, 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–2, 23–21.^[2]

His 13-year partnership with Daniel Nestor ended after the 2007 US Open. After reaching the Basel final with James Blake, Knowles reunited with Nestor once again to win the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup. They defeated Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle, 6–3, 6–2, to take their first Tennis Masters Cup title.^[3]

Knowles then played with fellow Grand Slam doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi, for two seasons in 2008 and 2009, and the two were one of the most successful teams on tour, qualifying for the season-ending championships in both years. After losing in their season debut in Sydney, Knowles and Bhupathi knocked out defending champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, taking the gripping match in a final set tiebreak. The two lost to eventual champions Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram. Other season highlights included three titles, at Memphis, Dubai and Basel. The victory in Basel gave Knowles his 50th career title.

At the 2009 Australian Open, Knowles and Bhupathi went one step further than the year before, reaching the final before losing to the Bryans in three sets, after winning the first set 6–2. They went on to reach the US Open final later that year, despite the fact that Knowles was hampered by a hand injury that required eight stitches on his dominant hand (right). They also claimed their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown together, winning the Rogers Cup in Montreal. They closed out their partnership at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, winning their round-robin group before going down in the semifinals to the Bryans. Knowles also repeated as champion in Memphis with Mardy Fish.

In 2010, Knowles joined forces with Fish, and after both struggled with injuries the first half of the season, the two captured the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, defeating Tomáš Berdych and Radek Štěpánek in the final. The two advanced to the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the third round of the US Open. Knowles finished the season on a high note with a runner-up finish at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Paris with Andy Ram. The two upset top-ranked Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinals.

2011 was a tough year for the Bahamian, as his season partner, Michal Mertiňák, went down with a back injury at the French Open. Prior to that, the two made semifinal appearances in San Jose and Memphis and the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. After falling in the first round of Wimbledon with Łukasz Kubot, Knowles played his 10th season of World TeamTennis with the Sacramento Capitals, and then partnered Xavier Malisse to the Farmers Classic title at his former college campus, UCLA. The two edged Somdev Devvarman and Treat Conrad Huey to give the Bahamian his 54th doubles title. Knowles and Malisse also reached the quarterfinals in Washington and the third round at the US Open.

In October, Knowles was invited to participate in the 19th annual World TeamTennis Smash Hits charity event in Cleveland, co-hosted by Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King. Knowles was selected by John as a member of his team, which went on to win the exhibition 19–18. The event raised over $500,000 for various AIDS charities.

At the 2012 SAP Open, Knowles rejoined Malisse to win the ATP World Tour 250 event in San Jose, becoming the first men's player over 40 to win a tour-level doubles title since John McEnroe.

Retirement

Knowles announced his retirement at the 2012 US Open.^[4] After his announcement, many famed players such as Jonas Björkman, Mahesh Bhupathi, and longtime partner Daniel Nestor praised him. He once again partnered Malisse but lost in the first round to Pablo Andújar and Guillermo García López in three sets. However, he played one more grand slam tournament at Wimbledon in 2013 partnering Lleyton Hewitt but lost in the first round to Jamie Delgado and Matthew Ebden in straight sets where he and opponent Delgado shared the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimbledon tournaments, with 22 appearances in the Open era although Delgado broke the record the next year at 2014 Wimbledon with 23 appearances.^[5] After that, he played in only one tournament per year from 2014 to 2016. The first tournament was the RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas which he played in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, he partnered Ryan Harrison and made the finals but lost to top seed Sam Groth and Chris Guccione in straight sets. In 2015, he partnered Mardy Fish and defeated top seed James Cerretani and James Cluskey in the first round but lost in the next round to Hans Hach Verdugo and Luis Patiño in straight sets. The last tournament of his career was the 2016 Irving Tennis Classic where he partnered Benjamin Becker but lost in the first round to Jason Jung and Jakob Sude in straight sets.

Doubles: 99 (55–44)

More information Result, No. ...

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	2 August 1993	Montréal, Canada (1)	Hard	Jim Courier	Glenn Michibata David Pate	6–4, 7–6
Loss	1.	21 March 1994	Miami, US	Hard	Jared Palmer	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	6–7, 6–7
Win	2.	19 September 1994	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Luke Jensen Murphy Jensen	6–4, 7–6
Loss	2.	30 January 1995	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Jared Palmer Richey Reneberg	3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win	3.	17 April 1995	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Jonathan Stark	John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd	6–3, 3–6, 7–6
Loss	3.	14 August 1995	Cincinnati, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	2–6, 0–3, RET
Win	4.	21 August 1995	Indianapolis, US (1)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Scott Davis Todd Martin	6–4, 6–4
Win	5.	8 January 1996	Doha, Qatar (1)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	7–6, 6–3
Win	6.	5 February 1996	Shanghai, China	Carpet	Roger Smith	Jim Grabb Michael Tebbutt	4–6, 6–2, 7–6
Win	7.	26 February 1996	Memphis, US (1)	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–4, 7–5
Loss	4.	22 April 1996	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Rick Leach	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	2–6, 3–6
Win	8.	13 May 1996	Hamburg, Germany (1)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Guy Forget Jakob Hlasek	6–2, 6–4
Win	9.	12 August 1996	Cincinnati, US (1)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Sandon Stolle Cyril Suk	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	5.	26 August 1996	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Patrick Galbraith Paul Haarhuis	6–7, 3–6
Loss	6.	17 February 1997	San Jose, US	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Brian MacPhie Gary Muller	6–4, 6–7, 5–7
Win	10.	17 March 1997	Indian Wells, US (1)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Mark Philippoussis Patrick Rafter	7–6, 4–6, 7–5
Loss	7.	31 March 1997	Miami, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	7–6, 7–6
Win	11.	19 May 1997	Rome, Italy (1)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Byron Black Alex O'Brien	6–3, 4–6, 7–5
Loss	8.	8 June 1998	Paris, France	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	12.	17 August 1998	Cincinnati, US (2)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Olivier Delaître Fabrice Santoro	6–1, 2–1, RET
Loss	9.	24 August 1998	Indianapolis, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Jiří Novák David Rikl	2–6, 6–7
Loss	10.	14 September 1998	New York, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Cyril Suk Sandon Stolle	6–4, 6–7, 2–6
Loss	11.	22 November 1998	Hartford, US	Carpet	Daniel Nestor	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	4–6, 2–6, 5–7
Loss	12.	8 March 1999	Scottsdale, US	Hard	Sandon Stolle	Justin Gimelstob Richey Reneberg	4–6, 7–6(7–4), 3–6
Win	13.	10 January 2000	Doha, Qatar (2)	Hard	Max Mirnyi	Alex O'Brien Jared Palmer	6–3, 6–4
Loss	13.	17 April 2000	Atlanta, US	Clay	Justin Gimelstob	Ellis Ferreira Rick Leach	3–6, 4–6
Win	14.	27 November 2000	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Petr Pála Pavel Vízner	6–3, 6–2
Win	15.	8 January 2001	Doha, Qatar (3)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Juan Balcells Andrei Olhovskiy	6–3, 6–1
Win	16.	5 March 2001	San Jose, US	Hard (i)	Brian MacPhie	Jan-Michael Gambill Jonathan Stark	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Win	17.	20 August 2001	Indianapolis, US (2)	Hard	Brian MacPhie	Mahesh Bhupathi Sébastien Lareau	7–6(7–5), 5–7, 6–4
Win	18.	28 January 2002	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro	7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss	14.	25 February 2002	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Roger Federer Max Mirnyi	6–4, 3–6, [4–10]
Win	19.	4 March 2002	Dubai, UAE (1)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Joshua Eagle Sandon Stolle	3–6, 6–3, [13–11]
Loss	15.	11 March 2002	Scottsdale, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	5–7, 6–7(6–8)
Win	20.	18 March 2002	Indian Wells, US (2)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Roger Federer Max Mirnyi	6–4, 6–4
Win	21.	1 April 2002	Miami, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Donald Johnson Jared Palmer	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Loss	16.	10 June 2002	Paris, France	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Paul Haarhuis Yevgeny Kafelnikov	5–7, 4–6
Win	22.	24 June 2002	Nottingham, England	Grass	Mike Bryan	Donald Johnson Jared Palmer	0–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
Loss	17.	8 July 2002	London, England	Grass	Daniel Nestor	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	1–6, 2–6, 7–6(9–7), 5–7
Loss	18.	5 August 2002	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–4, 6–7(1–7), 3–6
Win	23.	19 August 2002	Indianapolis, US (3)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Mahesh Bhupathi Max Mirnyi	7–6(7–4), 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Loss	19.	14 October 2002	Lyon, France	Carpet	Daniel Nestor	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	4–6, 6–3, 6–7(3–7)
Win	24.	21 October 2002	Madrid, Spain (1)	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Mahesh Bhupathi Max Mirnyi	6–3, 7–5, 6–0
Loss	20.	28 October 2002	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–7(1–7), 5–7
Loss	21.	6 January 2003	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Martin Damm Cyril Suk	4–6, 6–7(8–10)
Loss	22.	27 January 2003	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	25.	24 February 2003	Memphis, US (2)	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–2, 7–6(7–3)
Win	26.	3 March 2003	Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Daniel Nestor	David Ferrer Fernando Vicente	6–3, 6–3
Win	27.	28 April 2003	Houston, US (1)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Jan-Michael Gambill Graydon Oliver	6–4, 6–3
Win	28.	19 May 2003	Hamburg, Germany (2)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Mahesh Bhupathi Max Mirnyi	6–4, 7–6(12–10)
Win	29.	16 June 2003	London/Queen's Club, England (1)	Grass	Daniel Nestor	Mahesh Bhupathi Max Mirnyi	5–7, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Win	30.	27 October 2003	Basel, Switzerland (1)	Carpet (i)	Daniel Nestor	Lucas Arnold Ker Mariano Hood	6–4, 6–2
Win	31.	1 March 2004	Marseille, France	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Martin Damm Cyril Suk	7–5, 6–3
Win	32.	3 May 2004	Barcelona, Spain (1)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Mariano Hood Sebastián Prieto	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	23.	14 June 2004	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	4–6, 4–6
Win	33.	9 August 2004	Cincinnati, US (3)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Win	34.	13 September 2004	New York, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Leander Paes David Rikl	6–3, 6–3
Win	35.	25 October 2004	Madrid, Spain (2)	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–3, 6–4
Loss	24.	14 February 2005	Marseille, France	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Martin Damm Radek Štěpánek	6–7(4–7), 6–7(5–7)
Win	36.	21 March 2005	Indian Wells, US (3)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Wayne Arthurs Paul Hanley	7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–2)
Win	37.	25 April 2005	Houston, US (2)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Martín García Luis Horna	6–3, 6–4
Win	38.	17 October 2005	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	5–3, 5–4(5–2)
Win	39.	24 October 2005	Madrid, Spain (3)	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Leander Paes Nenad Zimonjić	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	25.	7 November 2005	Paris, France	Carpet	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	4–6, 7–6(7–3), 4–6
Win	40.	6 February 2006	Delray Beach, US	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Chris Haggard Wesley Moodie	6–2, 6–3
Loss	26.	20 February 2006	Marseille, France	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Martin Damm Radek Štěpánek	2–6, 7–6(7–4), [3–10]
Loss	27.	6 March 2006	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Paul Hanley Kevin Ullyett	6–1, 2–6, [1–10]
Win	41.	20 March 2006	Indian Wells, US (4)	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–4, 6–4
Win	42.	1 May 2006	Barcelona, Spain (2)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–2, 6–7(4–7), [10–5]
Win	43.	15 May 2006	Rome, Italy (2)	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	6–4, 5–7, [13–11]
Loss	28.	22 May 2006	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Paul Hanley Kevin Ullyett	2–6, 6–7(8–10)
Loss	29.	23 October 2006	Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	5–7, 4–6
Win	44.	30 October 2006	Basel, Switzerland (2)	Carpet (i)	Daniel Nestor	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	4–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Loss	30.	20 November 2006	Shanghai, China	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Jonas Björkman Max Mirnyi	2–6, 4–6
Loss	31.	15 January 2007	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Daniel Nestor	Paul Hanley Kevin Ullyett	4–6, 7–6(7–3), [6–10]
Loss	32.	19 February 2007	Marseille, France	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Arnaud Clément Michaël Llodra	5–7, 6–4, [8–10]
Loss	33.	16 April 2007	Houston, US	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–7(3–7), 4–6
Win	45.	11 June 2007	Paris, France	Clay	Daniel Nestor	Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	46.	17 June 2007	London/Queen's Club, England (2)	Grass	Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	7–6(7–4), 7–5
Loss	34.	28 October 2007	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet	James Blake	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	1–6, 1–6
Win	47.	18 November 2007	Shanghai, China	Hard (i)	Daniel Nestor	Simon Aspelin Julian Knowle	6–2, 6–3
Win	48.	2 March 2008	Memphis, US (3)	Hard (i)	Mahesh Bhupathi	Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana	7–6(7–5), 6–2
Win	49.	8 March 2008	Dubai, UAE (2)	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Martin Damm Pavel Vízner	7–5, 7–6(9–7)
Loss	35.	26 March 2008	Miami, US	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	2–6, 2–6
Loss	36.	27 April 2008	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Mahesh Bhupathi	Rafael Nadal Tommy Robredo	3–6, 3–6
Loss	37.	23 August 2008	New Haven, US	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Marcelo Melo André Sá	5–7, 2–6
Loss	38.	13 October 2008	Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Mahesh Bhupathi	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	4–6, 2–6
Win	50.	18 October 2008	Basel, Switzerland (3)	Carpet	Mahesh Bhupathi	Christopher Kas Philipp Kohlschreiber	6–3, 6–3
Loss	39.	31 January 2009	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–2, 5–7, 0–6
Win	51.	22 February 2009	Memphis, United States (4)	Hard (i)	Mardy Fish	Travis Parrott Filip Polášek	7–6(9–7), 6–1
Loss	40.	26 April 2009	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Mahesh Bhupathi	Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić	3–6, 6–7(9–11)
Win	52.	16 August 2009	Montréal, Canada (2)	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Max Mirnyi Andy Ram	6–4, 6–3
Loss	41.	13 September 2009	New York, US	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Lukáš Dlouhý Leander Paes	6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	42.	11 October 2009	Beijing, China	Hard	Andy Roddick	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	4–6, 2–6
Loss	43.	25 April 2010	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Lleyton Hewitt	Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić	6–4, 3–6, [6–10]
Win	53.	8 August 2010	Washington, United States	Hard	Mardy Fish	Tomáš Berdych Radek Štěpánek	4–6, 7–6(9–7), [10–7]
Loss	44.	14 November 2010	Paris, France	Hard (i)	Andy Ram	Mahesh Bhupathi Max Mirnyi	5–7, 5–7
Win	54.	31 July 2011	Los Angeles, United States	Hard	Xavier Malisse	Somdev Devvarman Treat Conrad Huey	7–6(7–3), 7–6(12–10)
Win	55.	19 February 2012	San Jose, United States	Hard (i)	Xavier Malisse	Kevin Anderson Frank Moser	6–4, 1–6, [10–5]

Close

Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

More information Result, Date ...

Result	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2002	French Open	Clay	Elena Bovina	Cara Black Wayne Black	3–6, 3–6
Win	2009	Wimbledon	Grass	Anna-Lena Grönefeld	Cara Black Leander Paes	7–5, 6–3

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