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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.
Country (sports) | |
---|---|
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 | $3,048,871 |
Singles | |
Career record | 10–33 |
Career titles | 0 |
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 | 410–368 |
Career titles | 19 |
Highest ranking | No. 6 (7 January 2008) |
Current ranking | – (24 May 2021) |
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: 24 May 2021. |
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 no. 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. 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.
2021
In February, Knowle competed in the Australian Open, marking his first Grand Slam appearance since 2017. Knowle and Lloyd Harris lost in the first round to the pairing of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Performance timelines
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Singles
Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006–2021 | SR | W–L | Win% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | Q1 | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 | 2R | Q1 | Q2 | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
French Open | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | 1R | Q1 | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
Wimbledon | Q1 | A | Q3 | 1R | 3R | Q1 | 1R | Q1 | A | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | 40% |
US Open | A | A | Q1 | Q3 | 1R | Q2 | Q2 | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 6 | 3–6 | 33% |
Doubles
Current through the 2021 French Open.
Tournament | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | SR | W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 15 | 7–15 |
French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | 3R | 2R | SF | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 17 | 20–16 |
Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | F | 3R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 3R | QF | QF | QF | 2R | 1R | 2R | A | A | NH | 0 / 16 | 23–16 | |
US Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | W | 2R | 3R | 1R | 2R | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 1 / 17 | 16–16 | |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 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 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1 / 65 | 66–63 |
Year-end championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ATP Finals | Did Not Qualify | F | Did Not Qualify | 0 / 1 | 3–2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
ATP Tour Masters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | QF | SF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 8 | 5–8 | |
Miami Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | SF | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 11 | 8–11 | |
Monte Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | SF | QF | QF | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 8 | 4–8 | |
Italian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 7 | 2–7 | |
German Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | SF | QF | Not Masters Series | 0 / 5 | 6–5 | ||||||||||||
Madrid Open | Not Held | A | A | 1R | A | A | QF | QF | 1R | QF | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 6 | 5–6 | ||||||||
Canadian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 5 | 1–5 | |
Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | QF | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | |
Shanghai Masters | Not Held | SF | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | |||||||||||||||
Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | SF | QF | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 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 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 61 | 39–61 |
National representation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Olympics | Not Held | A | Not Held | A | Not Held | A | Not Held | 2R | Not Held | A | Not Held | A | Not Held | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | |||||||||||||||
Davis Cup | A | A | A | A | A | PO | 1R | Z1 | Z1 | PO | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | Z1 | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | Z1 | A | A | NH | 0 / 10 | 11–13 | |
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Career | ||
Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | |
Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | |
Overall Win–Loss | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 5–10 | 20–16 | 25–14 | 19–22 | 25–26 | 37–27 | 47–27 | 26–28 | 36–27 | 27–28 | 11–17 | 27–23 | 34–27 | 27–22 | 22–22 | 10–18 | 11–9 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 410–371 | |
Year-end ranking | 463 | 488 | – | 384 | 365 | 184 | 162 | 84 | 58 | 38 | 28 | 32 | 23 | 7 | 24 | 21 | 32 | 81 | 37 | 34 | 40 | 51 | 87 | 74 | – | – | – | 52% |
ATP career finals
Doubles: 44 (19 titles, 25 runner-ups)
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Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
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Win | 1–0 | Feb 2002 | Copenhagen Open, Denmark | International | Hard (i) | 7–6(10–8), 7–5 | ||
Loss | 1–1 | May 2002 | Majorca Open, Spain | International | Clay | 2–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 2–1 | Jul 2002 | Croatia Open, Croatia | International | Clay | 6–4, 6–4 | ||
Win | 3–1 | Jan 2003 | Chennai Open, India | International | Hard | 7–6(7–1), 7–6(7–3) | ||
Loss | 3–2 | Mar 2003 | Copenhagen Open, Denmark | International | Hard (i) | 5–7, 7–5, 2–6 | ||
Loss | 3–3 | Jul 2003 | Hall of Fame Championships, US | International | Grass | 6–7(4–7), 3–6 | ||
Win | 4–3 | Oct 2003 | St. Petersburg Open, Russia | International | Carpet (i) | 7–6(7–1), 6–3 | ||
Loss | 4–4 | May 2004 | Bavarian Championships, Germany | International | Clay | 2–6, 4–6 | ||
Loss | 4–5 | Jul 2004 | Wimbledon, United Kingdom | Grand Slam | Grass | 1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 4–6 | ||
Win | 5–5 | May 2005 | Bavarian Championships, Germany | International | Clay | 6–3, 1–6, 6–3 | ||
Win | 6–5 | Oct 2005 | St. Petersburg Open, Russia (2) | International | Carpet (i) | 4–6, 7–5, 7–5 | ||
Loss | 6–6 | Apr 2006 | US Clay Court Championships, US | International | Clay | 7–5, 4–6, [5–10] | ||
Win | 7–6 | May 2006 | Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco | International | Clay | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 7–7 | Oct 2006 | Open de Moselle, France | International | Hard (i) | 6–3, 1–6, [9–11] | ||
Loss | 7–8 | Oct 2006 | Vienna Open, Austria | International | Hard (i) | 4–6, 6–3, [10–12] | ||
Loss | 7–9 | Oct 2006 | St. Petersburg Open, Russia | International | Carpet (i) | 1–6, 6–7(3–7) | ||
Loss | 7–10 | Feb 2007 | US Indoor Tennis Championships, US | Intl. Gold | Hard (i) | 5–7, 3–6 | ||
Win | 8–10 | May 2007 | ATP Pörtschach, Austria | International | Clay | 7–6(8–6), 5–7, [10–5] | ||
Win | 9–10 | Jun 2007 | Halle Open, Germany | International | Grass | 6–4, 7–6(7–5) | ||
Win | 10–10 | Jul 2007 | Swedish Open, Sweden | International | Clay | 6–2, 6–4 | ||
Win | 11–10 | Sep 2007 | US Open, US | Grand Slam | Hard | 7–5, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 11–11 | Nov 2007 | Tennis Masters Cup, China | Masters Cup | Hard (i) | 2–6, 3–6 | ||
Loss | 11–12 | May 2008 | ATP Pörtschach, Austria | International | Clay | 5–7, 7–6(7–3), [11–13] | ||
Loss | 11–13 | Feb 2009 | Open 13, France | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–3, 3–6, [8–10] | ||
Win | 12–13 | Aug 2009 | Connecticut Open, US | 250 Series | Hard | 6–4, 7–6(7–3) | ||
Win | 13–13 | Oct 2009 | Japan Open, Japan | 500 Series | Hard | 6–2, 5–7, [10–8] | ||
Loss | 13–14 | Nov 2009 | Vienna Open, Austria | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–2, 4–6, [9–11] | ||
Loss | 13–15 | Feb 2010 | Open 13, France | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 4–6, 3–6 | ||
Loss | 13–16 | Sep 2011 | Romanian Open, Romania | 250 Series | Clay | 6–3, 4–6, [8–10] | ||
Loss | 13–17 | May 2012 | Estoril Open, Portugal | 250 Series | Clay | 5–7, 5–7 | ||
Win | 14–17 | Jul 2012 | Austrian Open, Austria | 250 Series | Clay | 7–6(7–4), 3–6, [12–10] | ||
Loss | 14–18 | Oct 2012 | Vienna Open, Austria | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 4–6, 6–3, [4–10] | ||
Loss | 14–19 | Jan 2013 | Qatar Open, Qatar | 250 Series | Hard | 5–7, 4–6 | ||
Win | 15–19 | Feb 2013 | Zagreb Indoors, Croatia | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 3–6, 3–6 | ||
Win | 16–19 | Apr 2013 | Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco (2) | 250 Series | Clay | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
Loss | 16–20 | Oct 2013 | Vienna Open, Austria | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 5–7, 4–6 | ||
Loss | 16–21 | Oct 2013 | Swiss Indoors, Switzerland | 500 Series | Hard (i) | 3–6, 6–3, [4–10] | ||
Win | 17–21 | Jan 2014 | Auckland Open, New Zealand | 250 Series | Hard | 4–6, 6–3, [10–5] | ||
Win | 18–21 | Jun 2014 | Halle Open, Germany (2) | 250 Series | Grass | 1–6, 7–5, [12–10] | ||
Loss | 18–22 | Oct 2014 | Vienna Open, Austria | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–7(6–8), 6–4, [7–10] | ||
Loss | 18–23 | Jan 2015 | Qatar Open, Qatar | 250 Series | Hard | 3–6, 4–6 | ||
Loss | 18–24 | Sep 2015 | St. Petersburg Open, Russia | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 5–7, 3–6 | ||
Loss | 18–25 | Oct 2016 | Kremlin Cup, Russia | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 5–7, 6–4, [5–10] | ||
Win | 19–25 | Jul 2017 | Swedish Open, Sweden (2) | 250 Series | Clay | 6–2, 3–6, [10–7] |