with the winner advancing to play the World Group Qualifying Round, to be played in September. Smith got matters rolling with a decisive win of Diego Pérez in the opening match. In the second rubber Knowles eked out a 5-set win over Uruguay No. 1 Marcelo Filippini. The two Bahamian stars then wrapped the tie up winning the doubles in four sets. Smith reached the first or second round in a handful of challenger events before taking June off. In July, a refreshed Smith reached the semi-finals of the Aptos Challenger, losing in that round to a young Patrick Rafter. In August he and partner Jean-Philippe Fleurian won the Istanbul Challenger, while the following week in Segovia Smith and Maurice Ruah reached the final. Then in early September he and Bryan Shelton won the doubles title of the Azores Challenger. To qualify for the Davis Cup 1994 World Group the Bahamas needed to upset the Andre Agassi-led U.S. away, in a tie held in late September in Charlotte, North Carolina. The opening tie pitted Agassi and Smith with the later coming up second best 2−6, 2−6, 3−6. In the second rubber, Knowles was up two-sets to one on MaliVai Washington when, again, he retired from the match. This meant the Bahamian tandem needed to win the doubles match to keep their faint hopes for an upset alive. They took the first set in a tie-break but succumbed in four. Smith bounced back from the Davis Cup disappointment to reach the finals of the Monterrey Challenger, partnering Frenchman Fleurian. The following week he reached the semi-finals of the Ponte Vedra Challenger, while one week later he reached the semis of the Caracas-3 Challenger. Smith finished the year strongly reaching the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Challenger, partnering Kenny Thorne. The final ATP ranking release had him at No. 224 in singles and No. 132 in doubles. 1994 Smith began the year by qualifying for the Australian Open and losing in the first round against 10th seed Magnus Gustafsson in a five-set thriller 6–3, 5–7, 2–6, 6–2, 2–6. After playing in two more ATP tournaments in Mexico and Miami, he solely played ATP challenger events from March to August with his best result coming at the Puerto Vallarta Challenger where he made the semifinals. After failing to qualify for the French Open and Wimbledon, Smith returned to the tour at the Canada