The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net ALTHOUGH the Bahamas' most noteable tennis pro has opted out of the first major on this year's ATP Tour, Bahamians still have a reason to closely follow the Men's Doubles Draw. Bahamian-born Ryan Sweeting, now representing the United States, is entered into the draw with fellow American Ryan Harrison. The duo will face the 15th ranked seeds Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins. Mike and Bob Bryan again enter the event as the number one seeded team. Mark Knowles announced earlier this month that, for the first time in his 20-year career, he has decided not to start his ATP Tour in Australia and will forego the year's first major. Knowles, 40, said he will take another month to train before he starts playing at the Sap Open in San Jose, California, starting on February 13; the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee, starting on February 20 and the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Florida, starting on February 27. The 6'5" Sweeting, a former Bahamian Davis Cup participant, now resides in Ft Lauderdale and is coached by Dustin Taylor. He gained international fame last February when he upset third-seed Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the second round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Florida. He has a current ranking of 849 in the doubles rankings. His highest rank for doubles was a ranking of 139 in February 2008. He is also entered into the main singles draw and will appear in the opening round when he faces Matthias Bachinger from Germany. As for Knowles, after an unpredictable season in which he won just a single title last year and changed partners for most of the year, due to various injuries, he said this year he will carefully pick where and when he will play. "I'm just going to take the extra time to train and make sure that I'm ready," Knowles said. "I really want to spend more time at home, so I'm going to start off with the tournaments close to my family." When he gets started, Knowles will team up with Xavier Malisse in San Jose before he and Kevin Anderson from South Africa play in Memphis. Knowles, who at one point in his career held the number one doubles spot in the world, will start the year off as the No 58th ranked player on the ATP computer list. Malisse, a 31-year-old from Belgium, but resident in Sarasota, Florida, is listed at No 26, while 25-year-old Anderson is pegged at No 32 in singles. Mertinak, from Slovak, is 62nd. He is 32 years old.