Knowles Has Another Successful Fundraiser

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 11th December 2012

Knowles Has Another Successful Fundraiser

epa01784330 Mark Knowles (L) of Bahamas and Anna-Lena Groenefeld (R) of Germany celebrate with their trophies after winning the mixed doubles final match against Leander Paes of India and Cara Black of Zimbabwe for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 05 July 2009. EPA/HUGO PHILPOTT |

The recently doubles standout Mark Knowles, who has been coaching Mardy Fish, had a successful 12th version of his Celebrity Tennis Invitational at the Atlantis Tennis Center on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Lindsay Davenport, Sam Querrey, Xavier Malisse, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Sabine Lisicki, Iva Majoli, Brent Haygarth, Donald Johnson, Craig Kardon, Alex Kuznetsov, Asia Muhammad, Yasmin Schnack and Tara Snyder, all participated in exhibitions. The event raised funds for local charities.

“It was very successful, great event,” Knowles told Tribune242.com. “We had fantastic weather, which was always great. Great sponsorship, exceptional players once again. That’s the combination that we needed with this backdrop of Atlantis. The Ministry of Tourism, the sponsors and the players all helped to make it a great event again.”

Knowles said he doesn’t miss the tour yet, but could when the season starts up again.

“Maybe when the Australian Open rolls around and everybody else is in fact playing and I’m watching it on TV, sure I might miss it,” he said.

“But I can look on the brighter side. I had a full career. I played for 20-plus years and I know I gave 150 per cent every day. So I know I punched the clock and gave it my all, so I’m very comfortable in moving on the next stage of my life, which is being with my family.”

Former Bahamas national long jump record holder Shonel Ferguson attended the event and said that she has turned to playing tennis to stay fit.

“I’m chairman of the competition committee for the Nassau Lawn Tennis Club and so we brought a group of people out here and it was just fantastic,” she said. “Things that we struggle to do, they do so easily. Shots that we hit in the net, they hit them too, so it makes you want to go back and try harder to learn a lot more about the game.”