Julian Knowle Austrian professional tennis player specializing in doubles play Date of Birth: 29.04.1974 Country: Austria

Biography of Julian Knowle

Austrian professional tennis player specializing in doubles, winner of the 2007 US Open men's doubles championship. Julian Knowle began playing tennis at the age of six. He played his first match in an ATP Challenger tournament in Kitzbühel in 1992. He continued to compete in Challenger events until 1997, but did not advance past the quarterfinals.

In 1998, Knowle won his first ITF Futures tournaments in both singles (June, Ireland) and doubles (August, Romania). The following year, he won his first Challenger event in Kyoto, both in singles and doubles. By 2000, he had already won three Challenger events in doubles. He also made his debut for the Austrian Davis Cup team during these two years, but unfortunately lost all three matches.

In 2001, Knowle won six Challenger events in doubles and two in singles. He reached the third round of the French Open in doubles and broke into the top 100 doubles ranking in June, becoming one of the world's best doubles players. In the Davis Cup, he secured his first victory by defeating Ivan Ljubicic from Croatia. In May 2002, Knowle entered the top 100 singles ranking and reached the third round of Wimbledon, where he lost to the world No. 1, Lleyton Hewitt. However, his main successes came in doubles, winning two ATP tournaments that year. Following his semifinal appearance at the Brazil Open, he entered the top 50 doubles ranking in September.

The following year, Knowle reached four ATP finals in doubles, winning two of them (Chennai and St. Petersburg). In 2004, he reached a new level in doubles, reaching the Wimbledon final with Nenad Zimonjic. Along the way, they defeated three top-ranked pairs before losing to the world No. 1 pair, Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge, in four sets. This success propelled Knowle to the top 20 doubles ranking for the first time in his career. In September, his victory in the Davis Cup doubles match against the British team helped Austria remain in the World Group. However, his singles performance declined, and he dropped out of the top 100 and then the top 200 rankings.

In 2005, Knowle played with various partners but most frequently with fellow Austrian Jurgen Melzer. They won the St. Petersburg tournament again and secured Austria's place in the World Group of the Davis Cup for another year. Knowle also won the Munich tournament with Mario Ancic. Melzer remained Knowle's main partner for the following year. Together, they reached five ATP finals, winning one and losing twice due to missed match points.

Despite a successful season with Aspelin in 2007, winning four tournaments including the US Open, Knowle's performance declined in 2008. He played with both Aspelin and Melzer but only reached one ATP final. In the second half of the season, he dropped out of the top 10 doubles ranking.

Knowle represented Austria at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Melzer, winning their first-round match against a German pair but losing to the tournament favorites and future bronze medalists, the Bryan brothers, in the second round.

In 2009, Knowle continued to play with Melzer, winning two tournaments, including the Japan Open, and reaching another final. He also reached the final with Israeli player Andy Ram.

Knowle started 2010 with another Swedish partner, Simon Aspelin, reaching the final in Marseille. From April onwards, his partner became Andy Ram, and they reached the semifinals of the French Open. Knowle achieved his highest success in mixed doubles at the same tournament, reaching the final with Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan. Along the way, they defeated two seeded pairs, including the No. 2 seeds, Cara Black and Leander Paes, the recent winners of the Australian Open.