Noam Okun (Hebrew: נעם אוקון; born 16 April 1978) is an Israeli retired professional tennis player.

Noam Okun
Country (sports) Israel
ResidenceHaifa, Israel
Born (1978-04-16) 16 April 1978 (age 46)
Haifa, Israel
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro1996
Retired2015
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CoachShimon Rapaport
Prize money$784,555
Singles
Career record36–59
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 95 (22 April 2002)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2000, 2002)
French OpenQ3 (2005)
Wimbledon1R (2002, 2005)
US Open2R (2002, 2006)
Doubles
Career record1–5
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 162 (6 July 2009)
Grand Slam doubles results
WimbledonQ1 (2003, 2005)
Last updated on: 8 June 2021.

He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 95 in April 2002.[1] Okun won several challenger tournaments in his career, and was a consistent competitor on the ATP tour, often qualifying for Grand Slam events.

He, Harel Levy, and Dudi Sela were Israel's top singles players for a number of years. Okun trained at the Israel Tennis Centers.[2]

Early life

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Okun was born in Haifa, Israel.[1] His parents are Igor (who works for Israeli Electric Company) and Galit (an assistant to an orthopedic doctor), and he is Jewish.[1][3][4]

Tennis career

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Okun began playing tennis at age nine, and was selected to be part of the Israeli Tennis Federation program after a short course at school.[1]

He turned pro in 1999, at the age of 21.

In 2000, Okun qualified for the Australian Open, where he lost to hometown favorite Mark Philippoussis in a five-set thriller, 4–6, 2–6, 6–2, 6–3, 2–6. This was Okun's grand slam debut.[1]

In March 2002, Okun upset Albert Portas of Spain, ranked # 26 in the world, 7–6(4), 6–4, in Scottsdale. In July 2002 he upset Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands, ranked # 23 in the world, 7–6(5), 7–6(4), in Los Angeles. Okun qualified into the 2002 US Open, and lost to world # 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 6–7(7), 4–6, 1–6 in the second round.[1]

In August 2003 Okun upset Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands, ranked # 15 in the world, 3–6, 6–3, 6–1, in Cincinnati.[1]

 
Noam Okun at 2004 U.S. Open

In August 2004, Okun won his first title in Binghamton, New York, beating Danai Udomchoke 6–3, 4–6, 6–1 for the title.[1]

In June 2005, Okun qualified for Wimbledon, and lost to Gaël Monfils 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(14) in the first round. In September 2005, Okun qualified for the US Open and lost to Mariano Puerta 6–7(4), 7–6(3), 4–6, 0–6 in the first round.[1]

In September 2006, Okun qualified for the US Open, and beat Potito Starace 6–2, 6–0, 4–6, 6–2 in the first round. Okun went down to Łukasz Kubot in the second round, 6–7(7), 4–6, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6.[1]

In July 2007, Okun won his second challenger title in Winnetka, Illinois, beating South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6–4, 6–3 in the final.[1]

In February 2009 he won an Israel F2 tournament, and lost in the finals of an Israel F3 tournament to Harel Levy, by walkover.[5] In August and September 2009, he won three tournaments—an Israel F4, F5 and F6 tournament.[5]

In March 2015, he played in an Israel F3 tournament in Ramat HaSharon, Israel, and lost in the finals to Isak Arvidsson of Sweden.[5]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 18 (10–8)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (5–3)
ITF Futures (5–5)
Finals by surface
Hard (9–6)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jun 1998 Ireland F1, Dublin Futures Carpet   Michael Hill 6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Jun 1998 Greece F5, Athens Futures Clay   Lior Mor 4–6, 1–6
Loss 0–3 Apr 1999 Uzbekistan F2, Namangan Futures Hard   Oleg Ogorodov 3–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win 1–3 Jun 1999 Poland F1, Kraków Futures Clay   Bartlomiej Dabrowski 6–1, 7–6
Loss 1–4 Oct 1999 Tel Aviv, Israel Challenger Hard   Ctislav Doseděl 6–7, 3–6
Loss 1–5 Feb 2001 Chandigarh, India Challenger Hard   Dennis Van Scheppingen 3–6, 5–7
Win 2–5 May 2001 Jerusalem, Israel Challenger Hard   Michaël Llodra 6–4, 6–1
Win 3–5 Jun 2001 Andorra la Vella, Andorra Challenger Hard   Christian Vinck 6–2, 6–4
Win 4–5 Nov 2001 Tyler, United States Challenger Hard   Vince Spadea 7–5, 6–2
Win 5–5 Aug 2004 Binghamton, United States Challenger Hard   Danai Udomchoke 6–3, 4–6, 6–1
Loss 5–6 Sep 2006 Lubbock, United States Challenger Hard   Sam Querrey 1–6, 4–6
Win 6–6 Jul 2007 Winnetka, United States Challenger Hard   Kevin Anderson 6–4, 6–3
Win 7–6 Feb 2009 Israel F2, Eilat Futures Hard   Harel Levy 6–4, 6–4
Loss 7–7 Feb 2009 Israel F3, Eilat Futures Hard   Harel Levy walkover
Win 8–7 Aug 2009 Israel F4, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Mikal Statham 6–2, 6–1
Win 9–7 Sep 2009 Israel F5, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Miloslav Mečíř 6–3, 6–2
Win 10–7 Sep 2009 Israel F6, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Marcus Daniell 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Loss 10–8 Mar 2015 Israel F3, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Isak Arvidsson 6–4, 3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 22 (11–11)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (9–7)
ITF Futures (2–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (9–11)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jan 1998 India F1, New Delhi Futures Hard   Jonathan Erlich   Lior Mor
  Jamie Delgado
6–7, 7–6, 7–6
Loss 1–1 Jan 1998 India F3, Indore Futures Hard   Jonathan Erlich   Ali Hamadeh
  Andrew Rueb
6–7, 4–6
Loss 1–2 Oct 1998 Tel Aviv, Israel Challenger Hard   Nir Welgreen   Radek Štěpánek
  Michal Tabara
6–7, 3–6
Win 2–2 Dec 1998 Ahmedabad, India Challenger Hard   Nir Welgreen   Noam Behr
  Eyal Ran
3–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win 3–2 Sep 1999 Budapest, Hungary Challenger Clay   Harel Levy   Daniel Fiala
  Leoš Friedl
6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Win 4–2 Jan 2001 São Paulo, Brazil Challenger Hard   André Sá   Cedric Kauffmann
  Flávio Saretta
6–4, 1–6, 6–4
Win 5–2 Mar 2001 Kyoto, Japan Challenger Carpet   Noam Behr   Kelly Gullett
  Brandon Hawk
6–3, 7–5
Win 6–2 Mar 2001 Hamilton, New Zealand Challenger Hard   Noam Behr   Tuomas Ketola
  Filippo Messori
7–6(7–4), 6–4
Loss 6–3 May 2001 Jerusalem, Israel Challenger Hard   Noam Behr   Jonathan Erlich
  Michaël Llodra
5–7, 6–4, 6–7(2–7)
Win 7–3 Jul 2003 Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard   Brandon Coupe   Juan Ignacio Carrasco
  Albert Portas
6–4, 1–6, 6–4
Win 8–3 Jun 2004 Tallahassee, United States Challenger Hard   Matías Boeker   Mark Hlawaty
  Brad Weston
6–7(3–7), 6–3, 6–4
Loss 8–4 Nov 2004 Bratislava, Slovakia Challenger Hard   Jonathan Erlich   Simon Aspelin
  Graydon Oliver
6–7(5–7), 3–6
Loss 8–5 Jul 2005 Aptos, United States Challenger Hard   Harel Levy   Nathan Healey
  Eric Taino
5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Win 9–5 Sep 2005 Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard   Harel Levy   David Škoch
  Martin Štěpánek
6–4, 7–5
Loss 9–6 Jan 2007 Durban, South Africa Challenger Hard   Stéphane Bohli   Rik de Voest
  Dominik Meffert
4–6, 2–6
Loss 9–7 May 2007 Lanzarote, Spain Challenger Hard   Dudi Sela   Rik de Voest
  Luke Bourgeois
3–6, 1–6
Win 10–7 Jul 2008 Aptos, United States Challenger Hard   Amir Weintraub   Todd Widom
  Michael Yani
6–2, 6–1
Loss 10–8 Sep 2008 Donetsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard   Harel Levy   Xavier Malisse
  Dick Norman
6–4, 1–6, [11–13]
Win 11–8 Feb 2009 Israel F2, Eilat Futures Hard   Harel Levy   Tim Van Terheijden
  Jürgen Zopp
6–3, 6–0
Loss 11–9 May 2012 Israel F8, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Noam Behr   Ti Chen
  Marcus Daniell
6–7(1–7) ret.
Loss 11–10 May 2012 Israel F9, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Aviv Ben Shabat   Ti Chen
  Marcus Daniell
0–6, 2–6
Loss 11–11 Oct 2015 Israel F14, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Noam Behr   Gabor Borsos
  Ádám Kellner
4–6, 6–7(7–9)

Performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

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Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R Q3 1R Q2 Q2 Q2 Q1 Q1 Q2 A Q2 0 / 2 0–2 0%
French Open Q1 A Q2 A Q2 Q1 Q3 Q2 Q1 Q2 A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wimbledon A A Q2 1R Q3 A 1R Q3 Q1 A A Q1 0 / 2 0–2 0%
US Open Q3 A Q3 2R Q2 Q2 Q3 2R Q1 A A Q3 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 6 2–6 25%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A Q2 A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Miami Open A A A Q2 A A Q1 A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Canada Masters A A A Q2 Q1 Q2 1R A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Cincinnati Masters A A A 1R 2R Q2 A A A A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Shanghai Masters Not Held Q2 A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 3 1–3 25%

Davis Cup

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Okun was a major force on the Israeli Davis Cup team, playing for it in 1999 and since 2001, going 17–16, and winning both of his matches in Israel's 2006 3–2 victory over Great Britain.[6] His Davis Cup record also includes big wins in live rubbers over Wayne Ferreira, Jarkko Nieminen, and Andreas Seppi.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Noam Okun | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. ^ "ITC Champions". 29 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  3. ^ "AJN | Latest Nicotine News". www.ajn.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008.
  4. ^ Davis, Carin (15 August 2002). "Up Front". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  5. ^ a b c "Noam Okun | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  6. ^ "Davis Cup – Players". 21 August 2003. Archived from the original on 21 August 2003.
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