The official site for tennis star Mark Knowles!
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About Mark
Image Copyright © 2008 Matthew T. Fitzgerald
Mark Samuel Knowles was born on September 4th, 1971 in Nassau, Bahamas. His parents were tennis pros at one of Nassaus tourist resorts and Mark started playing at the age of 4 under the guidance of his parents. At the age of 10, he was invited to train at the famous Nick Bolleteri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. When Knowles was 15, he became the U.S. Indoor 16's champion in the singles tournament as well as finishing as the runner up in doubles. Knowles attended UCLA, where he earned All American honors, before he finally started on the pro tour in 1991. He partnered with Daniel Nestor in 1994 and they won the first tournament they entered in Bogota. Knowles and Nestor found their partnership to have success, and it showed as the duo reached the 2nd week of the slams in doubles for the next few years, including 3 runner up finishes.
In December 2001, Knowles was able to host the first Mark Knowles Tennis Celebrity Invitational in Nassau, in order to support different Bahamian charities. In 2002, Knowles and Nestor won the first of their three Grand Slam doubles titles at the Australian Open. They also made the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon that year. In June, Mark reached the #1 ranking in doubles, a huge honor and deserved to all of his hard work. Two years later, Knowles and Nestor won the U.S. Open. After Mark and Daniel announced that they have decided to end their partnership after 12 years together, they captured the French Open in 2007. The only grand slam that eludes them now is Wimbledon.
The two ended one of the most successful partnerships in history by winning the year end Masters Cup in Shanghai. Knowles is playing his 2008 campaign with Mahesh Bhupathi. They reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, defeating the Bryan Brothers in a classic quarterfinal match, and they captured their first title together in Memphis. Mark owns 48 doubles titles, which ranks up there with the all time greats. Additionally, he is one of a few to be a four time Olympian and he will have the rare opportunity to compete in a 5th Olympics this year. He has a wife, Dawn, and a son, Graham.
