Mark Merklein

Born in the Bahamas in 1972, Mark Merklein spent his life growing up in Florida and played tennis in his high school days. Merklein won multiple high school titles, both in singles and doubles, before playing for the Florida Gator tennis team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He won the NCAA doubles title in 1993, before winning the singles title the following year. In 2005 Merklein was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 1994 Merklein turned professional, achieving a career-best singles ranking of #160 in the world in July 1997 and a doubles ranking of #37 in the world in January 2004. From 1999 until 2004 he played for the Bahamas Davis Cup team and in 2003 he reached the doubles third round at the Australian Open with American James Blake.

Merklein also played in the doubles at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, pairing with Mark Knowles each time. At the Sydney Games the pair reached the quarter-finals, losing to South Africa’s David Adams and John-Laffnie de Jager. Merklein retired as a professional in 2004 and later become a tennis coach at the University of Florida.