Julian Knowle
Country (sports) | Austria |
---|---|
Residence | Hard, Austria |
Born |
Lauterach, Austria | 29 April 1974
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
Turned pro | 1992 |
Plays | Left-handed (two-handed both sides) |
Prize money | $ 2,906,525 |
Singles | |
Career record | 10–33 |
Career titles |
0 4 Challengers, 5 Futures |
Highest ranking | No. 86 (15 July 2002) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 2R (2003) |
French Open | 1R (2002) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2002) |
US Open | 1R (2002) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 396–351 |
Career titles | 18 |
Highest ranking | No. 6 (7 January 2008) |
Current ranking | No. 62 (23 May 2016) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (2006, 2007) |
French Open | SF (2010) |
Wimbledon | F (2004) |
US Open | W (2007) |
Other doubles tournaments | |
Tour Finals | F (2007) |
Olympic Games | 2R (2008) |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | QF (2007) |
French Open | F (2010) |
Wimbledon | QF (2010) |
US Open | 2R (2006, 2010) |
Last updated on: 27 May 2016. |
Julian Knowle (born 29 April 1974) is an Austrian male professional tennis player. Being a born left-hander, Knowle is now one of the few on the ATP Tour who plays his forehand, backhand, and even volleys double-handed. He was Austria's most successful doubles player in history by reaching world no. 6 in the ATP doubles rankings in January 2008, before being matched by Jürgen Melzer, who reached no. 6 in September 2010, and overtaken by Alexander Peya, who reached no. 3 in August 2013.
Tennis career
Knowle was a successful player on the ATP Challenger Series, winning the Challenger tournaments in Kyoto (1999), Caracas (2001), Graz (2001)n and Andrezieux (2002)n and reaching the finals in Yokohama (2000), Bristol (2000), Besançon (2000)n and Graz (2003). He also won several Futures tournaments. Knowle's best ATP singles ranking was world mo. 86 in July 2002. His final appearance in the main draw of a singles tournament was in the Graz Challenger in 2005 where he reached the quarterfinals.
2004
Knowle reached his first of two Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon in 2004 with Nenad Zimonjić of Serbia. Eventually, the team was defeated in four sets by Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge. The only Austrian to reach a final at Wimbledon before was Georg von Metaxa in doubles in 1938, where he too lost.
2005-2006
In 2005 Knowle teamed up with Czech Petr Pála for several months without being able to continue his successful run with Zimonjić. This changed when he formed a team with fellow Austrian player and left-hander Jürgen Melzer, joining him throughout most of 2005 and 2006. Together, they won two tournaments in doubles and reached another five finals.
2007
Following Melzer's hand injury in early 2007, Knowle found a new partner in Simon Aspelin of Sweden.
At the 2007 US Open, seeded tenth with Aspelin, Knowle achieved the greatest triumph of his career by winning the tournament, his first Grand Slam. In the first two rounds, they won over Kubot/Skoch and got a walkover over Calleri/Horna. They went on to upset eighth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (who would go on to win the 2008 Australian Open men's doubles) in the third round. In the quarterfinals, they shocked the top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, having lost to them only weeks before. In the semifinals, they held off unseeded Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, 7–6(2), 1–6, 6–3, before winning the final 7–5, 6–4 over the ninth seeds, Pavel Vízner and Lukáš Dlouhý. They had previously won three tournaments together. This win put them into the no. 5 position in the ATP Doubles Race, and also gave Knowle his first top-10 ranking in doubles.
Knowle was the second of so-far three Austrian tennis players to win a Grand Slam tournament (the first in doubles). The first Austrian to win a Grand Slam tournament was Thomas Muster at the 1995 French Open; the third was Jürgen Melzer, who won the 2010 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles and later the 2011 US Open – Men's Doubles with his German partner Philipp Petzschner.
Their excellent first year as a team enabled Knowle and Aspelin to participate in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China for the first time. They surprisingly made it all the way to the final, beating Pavel Vízner and Lukáš Dlouhý, Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra, and finally Martin Damm and Leander Paes, before eventually falling in straight sets to Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor 2–6, 3–6.
Their first Masters Cup participation put the duo into the no. 3 spot of the ATP Doubles Race for the first time.
In December 2007, Knowle suffered acute hearing loss.
2008
Knowle and Aspelin were not able to continue their successful 2007 run, reaching five semifinals together in the 2008 season and reaching the third round of the French Open as their best Grand Slam result.
With Jürgen Melzer, Knowle participated at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. They defeated the German duo of Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schüttler in three sets in the first round, before being knocked out of the tournament by Bob and Mike Bryan, 6-7(2), 4-6.
2009
Starting early 2009, Knowle formed a team with fellow Austrian Jürgen Melzer once more, though occasionally also teaming with other players. Knowle and Melzer enjoyed little success on the tour in the first half of 2009, before their performance improved significantly in the later weeks, winning titles in New Haven and Tokyo and reaching another final in Vienna. Unfortunately, their success came too late in the year for them to qualify for the Masters Cup.
2010
In 2010, Knowle played the first months of the year with Sweden's Robert Lindstedt. Together, they reached the doubles final in Marseille, where they lost in straight sets. Due to little success on the tour together, Knowle and Lindstedt parted ways, with Knowle teaming with Andy Ram from Israel. Their best performance came at the French Open, where they surprisingly reached the semifinals.
2011
Knowle's 2011 season was plagued by numerous injuries. Following a groin injury, he teamed up once more with Simon Aspelin, but they had little success. A torn muscle fascicle in April ended their partnership, forcing Knowle to pause for six weeks. His planned return to the tour failed, when a partially torn tendon prevented his participation in the French Open to defend his semifinal success from the previous year.
2012
After dropping out of the top 80 of doubles players in late 2011 for the first time in 10 years, Knowle slowly made his way back to the top 50 in 2012, teaming with several different partners, including Michael Kohlmann, Paul Hanley, František Čermák, and Filip Polášek. He reached the doubles final in Estoril with David Marrero and won the Kitzbühel tournament with Cermak, claiming his first title since Tokyo in 2009. He also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon with Daniele Bracciali, and did the same at the US Open with Polášek.
At the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Knowle made a surprise return to singles competition, surviving three qualifying rounds (including a first-round bye) to become the oldest player to ever qualify for an ATP tournament at age 38. He lost in the first round to Albert Ramos in straight sets.
2013
In April, Knowle won the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca with Filip Polášek, winning the final over the German team of Dustin Brown and Christopher Kas.
ATP career finals
Doubles: 43 (18 titles, 25 runners-up)
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Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 18 February 2002 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Hard (i) | Michael Kohlmann | Jiří Novák Radek Štěpánek |
7–6(10–8), 7–5 |
Runner-up | 1. | 6 May 2002 | Mallorca, Spain | Clay | Michael Kohlmann | Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes |
2–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 2. | 22 July 2002 | Umag, Croatia | Clay | František Čermák | Albert Portas Fernando Vicente |
6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 3. | 6 January 2003 | Chennai, India | Hard | Michael Kohlmann | František Čermák Leoš Friedl |
7–6(7–1), 7–6(7–3) |
Runner-up | 2. | 3 March 2003 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Hard (i) | Michael Kohlmann | Tomáš Cibulec Pavel Vízner |
5–7, 7–5, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 3. | 14 July 2003 | Newport, United States | Grass | Jürgen Melzer | Jordan Kerr David Macpherson |
6–7(4–7), 3–6 |
Winner | 4. | 27 October 2003 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Hard (i) | Nenad Zimonjić | Michael Kohlmann Rainer Schüttler |
7–6(7–1), 6–3 |
Runner-up | 4. | 3 May 2004 | Munich, Germany | Clay | Nenad Zimonjić | James Blake Mark Merklein |
2–6, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 5. | 5 July 2004 | London, Great Britain | Grass | Nenad Zimonjić | Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge |
1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
Winner | 5. | 2 May 2005 | Munich, Germany | Clay | Mario Ančić | Florian Mayer Alexander Waske |
6–3, 1–6, 6–3 |
Winner | 6. | 31 October 2005 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Carpet | Jürgen Melzer | Jonas Björkman Max Mirnyi |
4–6, 7–5, 7–5 |
Runner-up | 6. | 17 April 2006 | Houston, United States | Clay | Jürgen Melzer | Michael Kohlmann Alexander Waske |
7–5, 4–6, [5–10] |
Winner | 7. | 1 May 2006 | Casablanca, Morocco | Clay | Jürgen Melzer | Michael Kohlmann Alexander Waske |
6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 7. | 9 October 2006 | Metz, France | Hard (i) | Jürgen Melzer | Richard Gasquet Fabrice Santoro |
6–3, 1–6, [9–11] |
Runner-up | 8. | 16 October 2006 | Vienna, Austria | Hard (i) | Jürgen Melzer | Petr Pála Pavel Vízner |
4–6, 6–3, [10–12] |
Runner-up | 9. | 30 October 2006 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Carpet | Jürgen Melzer | Simon Aspelin Todd Perry |
1–6, 6–7(3–7) |
Runner-up | 10. | 26 February 2007 | Memphis, United States | Hard (i) | Jürgen Melzer | Eric Butorac Jamie Murray |
5–7, 3–6 |
Winner | 8. | 28 May 2007 | Pörtschach, Austria | Clay | Simon Aspelin | Leoš Friedl David Škoch |
7–6(8–6), 5–7, [10–5] |
Winner | 9. | 17 June 2007 | Halle, Germany | Grass | Simon Aspelin | Fabrice Santoro Nenad Zimonjić |
6–4, 7–6(7–5) |
Winner | 10. | 15 July 2007 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Simon Aspelin | Martín García Sebastián Prieto |
6–2, 6–4 |
Winner | 11. | 7 September 2007 | New York, United States | Hard | Simon Aspelin | Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner |
7–5, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 11. | 18 November 2007 | Shanghai, China | Hard (i) | Simon Aspelin | Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor |
2–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 12. | 24 May 2008 | Pörtschach, Austria | Clay | Jürgen Melzer | Marcelo Melo André Sá |
7–5, 6–7(3–7), [11–13] |
Runner-up | 13. | 22 February 2009 | Marseille, France | Hard (i) | Andy Ram | Arnaud Clément Michaël Llodra |
6–3, 3–6, [8–10] |
Winner | 12. | 29 August 2009 | New Haven, United States | Hard | Jürgen Melzer | Bruno Soares Kevin Ullyett |
6–4, 7–6(7–3) |
Winner | 13. | 11 October 2009 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Jürgen Melzer | Ross Hutchins Jordan Kerr |
6–2, 5–7, [10–8] |
Runner-up | 14. | 1 November 2009 | Vienna, Austria | Hard (i) | Jürgen Melzer | Oliver Marach Łukasz Kubot |
6–2, 4–6, [9–11] |
Runner-up | 15. | 21 February 2010 | Marseille, France | Hard (i) | Robert Lindstedt | Julien Benneteau Michaël Llodra |
4–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 16. | 24 September 2011 | Bucarest, Romania | Clay | David Marrero | Daniele Bracciali Potito Starace |
6–3, 4–6, [8–10] |
Runner-up | 17. | 6 May 2012 | Estoril, Portugal | Clay | David Marrero | Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Jean-Julien Rojer |
5–7, 5–7 |
Winner | 14. | 28 July 2012 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | František Čermák | Dustin Brown Paul Hanley |
7–6(7–4), 3–6, [12–10] |
Runner-up | 18. | 21 October 2012 | Vienna, Austria | Hard (i) | Filip Polášek | Andre Begemann Martin Emmrich |
4-6, 6-3, [10-4] |
Runner-up | 19. | 4 January 2013 | Doha, Qatar | Hard | Filip Polášek | Christopher Kas Philipp Kohlschreiber |
5-7, 4-6 |
Winner | 15. | 10 February 2013 | Zagreb, Croatia | Hard (i) | Filip Polášek | Ivan Dodig Mate Pavić |
6-3, 6-3 |
Winner | 16. | 14 April 2013 | Casablanca, Morocco | Clay | Filip Polášek | Dustin Brown Christopher Kas |
6-3, 6-2 |
Runner-up | 20. | 20 October 2013 | Vienna, Austria | Hard (i) | Daniel Nestor | Florin Mergea Lukáš Rosol |
5–7, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 21. | 27 October 2013 | Basel, Switzerland | Hard (i) | Oliver Marach | Treat Conrad Huey Dominic Inglot |
3-6, 6-3, [4-10] |
Winner | 17. | 11 January 2014 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | Marcelo Melo | Alexander Peya Bruno Soares |
4–6, 6–3, [10–5] |
Winner | 18. | 15 June 2014 | Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany | Grass | Andre Begemann | Marco Chiudinelli Roger Federer |
1–6, 7–5, [12–10] |
Runner-up | 22. | 19 October 2014 | Erste Bank Open, Vienna, Austria | Hard (i) | Andre Begemann | Jürgen Melzer Philipp Petzschner |
6–7(6-8), 6–4, [7-10] |
Runner-up | 23. | 9 January 2015 | Qatar Open, Doha, Qatar | Hard | Philipp Oswald | Juan Mónaco Rafael Nadal |
3-6, 4-6 |
Runner-up | 24. | 27 September 2015 | St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia | Hard | Alexander Peya | Treat Huey Henri Kontinen |
5-7, 3-6 |
Runner-up | 25. | 23 October 2016 | Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia | Hard (i) | Jürgen Melzer | Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah |
5–7, 6–4, [5–10] |
Singles performance timeline
Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | SR | W–L | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||
Australian Open | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | |||||
French Open | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |||||
Wimbledon | 1R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | |||
US Open | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |||||
Win–Loss | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0 / 6 | 3–6 |
Doubles performance timeline
W | F | SF | QF | R# | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | NH |
Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | SR | W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 14 | 7–14 |
French Open | 3R | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | 3R | 2R | SF | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 15 | 19–14 |
Wimbledon | 1R | 2R | 1R | F | 3R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 3R | QF | QF | QF | 2R | 1R | 0 / 15 | 22–15 |
US Open | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | W | 2R | 3R | 1R | 2R | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1 / 16 | 16–15 |
Win–Loss | 2–3 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 8–4 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 9–4 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 3–2 | 7–4 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 1 / 60 | 64–58 |
Year-End Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
World Tour Finals | A | A | A | A | A | A | F | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 3–2 |
ATP Masters Series | ||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | QF | SF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 8 | 5–8 |
Miami | A | 3R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | SF | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 11 | 8–11 |
Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | SF | QF | QF | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 8 | 4–8 |
Rome | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 7 | 2–7 |
Hamburg | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | SF | QF | Held as Madrid | 0 / 5 | 6–5 | |||||||
Madrid (Clay) | Held as Hamburg | 1R | QF | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | |||||||
Canada | A | A | A | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 1–5 |
Cincinnati | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | QF | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 2–4 |
Madrid (Hard) | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | QF | QF | Held as Shanghai | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | |||||||
Shanghai | Not Held | SF | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | |||||||
Paris | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | SF | QF | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–6 | 1–5 | 4–8 | 12–9 | 6–8 | 8–7 | 3–8 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 61 | 39–61 |
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||
2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Career | ||
Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 2 / 3 | 2 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 2 / 2 | 1 / 5 | 4 / 6 | 0 / 1 | 2 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 3 | 2 / 5 | 2 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 18 / 43 | |
Year-end Ranking | 84 | 58 | 38 | 28 | 32 | 23 | 7 | 24 | 21 | 32 | 81 | 37 | 34 | 40 | 51 |
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Julian Knowle. |
- Julian Knowle at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Julian Knowle at the International Tennis Federation
- Julian Knowle at the Davis Cup