The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

YOU would think that after more than 20 years on the professional tennis circuit that Mark Knowles would be bored with the game. But he admitted that he’s having just as much fun enjoying it off the court as he did on it.

Home for a couple of weeks, Knowles participated in the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s Junior Development Tennis-A-Thon at the National Tennis Centre on Saturday.

“It’s been exactly what I planned it out to be,” said Knowles about his life away from the game as a competitor. “The idea was to spend some time with my kids. It’s been unbelievable. Obviously, I have the broadcasting gig with 12-14 weeks with the Tennis Channel and so I’m enjoying the whole TV thing and it’s allowed me to stay close to the game and I still get to travel.”

As for his two sons, Brody and Graham, Knowles said they are all getting involved in baseball, flag football and even tennis. And his three-year-old daughter, Presley, is getting active as well.

“So it’s just been really nice to be there for my kids, which is a privilege,” he said. “My days and weeks and life is basically shaped around them, especially the kids and I really enjoyed it.”

Off the court also, the 42-year-old received his latest accolade at the prestigious Wimbledon tournament when International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti presented him with the Davis Cup Commitment Award.

Knowles was honoured for a 19-year-old span in which he played 29 ties and accumulated a 41-32 win-loss record in singles and doubles.

“It was great. It was great to be recognised by the ITF,” said Knowles of the honour. “I had 20 great years and I always said that my best moment was playing against the United States.

“Even though I’ve won Grand Slams and was ranked as high as number one in the world, obviously my best moments came in Davis Cup. Me and my team-mates had such a strong bond. Not only did we compete, but we were lifetime friends. That is what Davis Cup is all about.”

Knowles’ first tie came in 1989 when the Bahamas defeated Venezuela 5-0 in the Americas Zone II clash in Nassau as he won both of his rubber single matches.

Although he’s had his highs and lows, including playing against the United States in North Carolina, Knowles completed his Davis Cup journey when he teamed up with Marvin Rolle to win the pivotal doubles in 2008 in a 4-1 loss to Paraguay.

Now that he’s done, having officially retired in 2012, the three-time Grand Slam champion, albeit in doubles, said he would like to see the Bahamas regain those glory days when he teamed up with players like Roger Smith, John Farrington, Sean Cartwright and Mark Merklein with John Antonas and Leo Rolle as captain and coach.

“It was really a great event and it really brought our country together, not just for the players, but the spectators as well because whenever a tie was held here, they really came out and supported us. I think that was what kept us in Zone One for as long as we did.

If the BLTA can refocus its attention on the youth development programme, build from the foundation and the government can step in and give some more financial support, Knowles said the Bahamas could very well be on its way back to regaining its prominence.

“You don’t get great at something by accident,” he said. “You have to be a product of something. I know I was fortunate to grow up when it was the number one sport in the Bahamas. Everybody played it and everybody had goals. You were actually out there having fun and doing something that you enjoyed.”

With his playing career over and done with, Knowles said he will be happy to sit down with both the BLTA and the Bahamas government to devise a plan that can provide an avenue for the future young players to develop and stay in the system and not be lured away like Ryan Sweeting and Timothy Neely were by the United States.

“I was asked to play for England with my mom being British, but there was no other place I would have preferred to play for than the Bahamas,” he said. “This is my home and this is where my heart was, is and will always be.”

Knowles praised players like Justin Roberts, who is now playing on the ITF junior circuit and will be a force to reckon with in the future and he hopes that he can help him in whatever way his support is needed to get to the next level.

As for the tennis courts that were supposed to have been erected in his name, Knowles said he’s a little disappointed that nothing has been done since the announcement.

“That was almost two years ago on December 12 when it was discussed and here we are in the summer of 2014 and nothing really has been done,” he said. “We can’t just talk about it. We have to put some things in motion to get the job done.”

Hopefully, he said he can have some influence on the future direction of the sport.