Audra Cohen

Last updated
Audra Cohen
Audra Cohen.jpg
Full nameAudra Marie Cohen
Country (sports)Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Residence Plantation, Florida, U.S.
Born (1986-04-21) April 21, 1986 (age 37)
California, United States
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Turned pro2003
Retired2011
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
College Northwestern
Miami
Prize money $ 72,967
Singles
Career record59–63
Career titles0 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 229 (03 November 2009)
Grand Slam singles results
US Open 1R (2007)
Doubles
Career record25–23
Career titles0 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 271 (27 April 2009)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open 2R (2004)
Last updated on: 20 April 2011.

Audra Marie Cohen (born April 21, 1986) is an American former professional tennis player and current college tennis coach. She was the # 1 collegiate female tennis player in the United States in 2007. At the University of Miami in 2005-2006 she was named the ITA National Player of the Year and was the National Indoor Champion, and in 2006-07 she won the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship, the NCAA Singles Championship, and the ITA National Player of the Year award. She is currently the head women's tennis coach at the University of Oklahoma. [1]

Contents

Her career-high world rank was 229 in singles, and 271 in doubles. [2]

Early life

Cohen was born in California and is Jewish. [3] When Cohen was a child, she first excelled at swimming, but she picked up a tennis racquet at the age of nine, and became a self-described “club rat,” who would hit as much as possible. She learned tennis at Bill Clark's Tennis Academy.

High school

Cohen attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. [4] She won the Florida state championship in singles and doubles as a junior and a senior, and was undefeated and an All American and was named the Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel Player of the Year during both her junior and senior seasons. [4] She was a four-time All-State and All-County Award recipient. [4] As a senior, she earned the USTA National Sportsmanship Award and was named USTA Florida Player of the Year. [4] In her senior year she also won the Easter Bowl doubles championship, and was a doubles champion in the Clay Courts Super Nationals, Hard Court Super Nationals, and Winter Super Nationals. [4]

College career

Cohen attended Northwestern University in the Fall of 2004, and won her first 23 singles matches. [4] She then won the ITA National Singles Title, the ITA National Indoor Doubles Championship, and the ITA Midwest Championships. [4] In 2004-05 at Northwestern, Cohen played No. 1 singles and was 51-7. [4] Her 51 wins tied her for third all-time since 1988. [4] She was named All-American in both singles and doubles, received the ITA Midwest Regional Rookie Player of the Year Award and the ITA National Rookie of the Year Award, was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Athlete of the Year, was named to the All-Big Ten team. [4]

Cohen later transferred after her freshman year and attended the University of Miami, and played tennis for the Miami Hurricanes. [4] In 2005-2006 at Miami she was 34-2 in singles and 30-6 in doubles. [4] She sat out the fall season while recovering from injury that required serious back surgery. [4] [5] She was named the ITA National Player of the Year, National Indoor Champion, ACC Player of the Year, and All-ACC team. [4] She completed her first season ranked #1 in singles and #2 in doubles. [4] She was voted All-American in singles and doubles, and named to the All-NCAA tournament team at the No. 1 position. [4]

In the Fall of 2006 she was 11-1, and won the National Indoor Championship. [4] During 2006-07, Cohen won the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship and the NCAA Singles championship. [6] She won the ITA National Player of the Year and ACC Player of the Year awards. [6] She also won the 2007 Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female tennis player. [7] [8] Cohen was honored by Miami-Dade County with “Audra Cohen Day” on June 29, 2007. [6]

Cohen left Miami after her junior year to turn professional, with a record of 76-4 in singles. [6] [9] She earned her B.A. in Psychology cum laude in 2009. [6]

She was voted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. [6] [9] [10]

Pro tournaments

She defeated world No. 92 Olga Savchuk, in August 2006 in New Haven, Connecticut. Cohen defeated world No 93 Varvara Lepchenko in a three-set match, in October 2006 in Augusta, Georgia.

In August 2007 in Forest Hills, New York, in her greatest upset to date, Cohen defeated world No. 59 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia. At the 2007 US Open, she entered as a wild card and was defeated in the first round by Andrea Petkovic of Germany. In April 2008 in Amelia Island she beat world No. 89 Galina Voskoboeva. In May 2008, partnering with Heidi El Tabakh, she won the Landisville doubles.

In September 2008 in Beijing she defeated world No. 84 Anne Keothavong of Great Britain in straight sets. Cohen's season-ending rankings were No. 579 in 2006, No. 384 in 2007, and No. 230 in 2008. In 2011, she retired from tennis.

Pan American Games

Cohen was a captain on the 2007 Pan-American Games Team USA, playing both singles and doubles in tennis. [6]

Coaching career

Starting in 2009, Cohen began her collegiate coaching career with a two-year stint as an assistant women's tennis coach at the University of Wisconsin. [10]

in 2011 she joined the University of North Florida, as the head coach of the women's tennis team, the Ospreys. [6] She was a three-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year in five seasons, leading the team to a 77-27 record (.740 winning percentage), four NCAA Tournament appearances, and four Atlantic Sun Tournament titles. [11] She was three-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year. [11] [10]

In 2016 she became the women’s tennis program head coach at the University of Oklahoma. [6] [10]

ITF finals

Singles: 2 (1–1)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (1–1)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Winner1.July 25, 2006 Evansville, United StatesHard Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Albanese 2–6, 6–2, 6–1
Runner-up2.January 13, 2008 St. Leo, United StatesHard Flag of Russia.svg Anastasia Pivovarova 4–6, 0–6

Doubles: 2 (2–0)

$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponents in the finalScore
Winner1.May 25, 2008 Landisville, United StatesHard Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Heidi El Tabakh Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Stefania Boffa
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Anna Fitzpatrick
6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Winner2.November 18, 2008 Puebla, MexicoHard Flag of the United States.svg Megan Moulton-Levy Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg María Fernanda Álvarez Terán
Flag of Argentina.svg Veronica Spiegel
6–2, 6–4

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Raymond</span> American tennis player

Lisa Raymond is an American retired professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. Raymond has eleven Grand Slam titles to her name: six in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. On June 12, 2000, she reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles for the first time, becoming the 13th player to reach the milestone. Raymond was ranked No. 1 on five separate occasions in her career over a combined total of 137 weeks and finished as the year-end No. 1 doubles player in both 2001 and 2006. She currently holds the record of most doubles match wins (860) and most doubles matches played (1,206) in WTA history, and earned more than $10 million in prize money in her career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Granville</span> American tennis player

Laura Granville is a former American professional tennis player. During the two years she spent at Stanford University, she set the record for most consecutive singles victories with 58 and finished with an overall record of 93–3. Granville won the NCAA Championship in singles as well as the ITA Player of the Year in both 2000 and 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Cavaliers</span> University of Virginia intercollegiate sports teams

The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level, in the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1953. Known simply as Virginia or UVA in sports media, the athletics program has twice won the Capital One Cup for men's sports after leading the nation in overall athletic excellence in those years. The Cavaliers have regularly placed among the nation's Top 5 athletics programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Shelton</span> American tennis coach and former player (born 1965)

Bryan Shelton is a former American college tennis coach and former professional tennis player. During his professional career, he won two singles and two doubles ATP tour titles, and reached the mixed doubles final at the 1992 French Open, partnering Lori McNeil. Shelton played collegiately for Georgia Tech from 1985 to 1988, and then played professionally from 1989 to 1997. He subsequently returned to his alma mater to coach the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's tennis team, which won the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship in 2007. He then served as the head coach of the Florida Gators men's tennis team of the University of Florida, where he coached the Gators to winning the 2021 NCAA Championship. He is the only head coach to have won a national championship in both men and women's NCAA Division I Tennis.

Lori McNeil is an American tennis coach and former top 10 player. McNeil was a singles semifinalist at the US Open in 1987 and Wimbledon in 1994, a women's doubles finalist at the Australian Open in 1987 with Zina Garrison and French Open mixed-doubles winner in 1988 with Jorge Lozano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Tigers</span> Athletics program of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas

The Trinity Tigers is the nickname for the sports teams of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). The school mascot is LeeRoy, a Bengal tiger. In the 1950s, LeeRoy was an actual tiger who was brought to sporting events, but today LeeRoy is portrayed by a student wearing a tiger suit. Early in its history, the school participated in Division I/II athletics, but by 1991 the entire program made the move to Division III, at which time it joined the SCAC.

Wendy White-Prausa is a former professional tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Gators women's tennis</span>

The Florida Gators women's tennis team represents the University of Florida in the sport of tennis. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home matches in Linder Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida, campus, and are currently led by head coach Roland Thornqvist. In the thirty-nine-year history of the Gators women's tennis program, the team has won twenty-five SEC championships and seven NCAA national tournament championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caitlin Whoriskey</span> American tennis player

Caitlin Whoriskey is an American former professional tennis player. She played collegiately at the University of Tennessee, where she was a three-time All-American.

Ronni Reis is an American former tennis player. Reis won three gold medals at the 1985 Maccabiah Games in Israel, the doubles bronze medal at the 1986 Goodwill Games, and the doubles gold medal at the 1987 Pan American Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Cohen</span> American tennis player

Julia Cohen is an American former professional tennis player. In 2001, she won the USTA National Spring Championships 12-Under Division Championship. In her career, Cohen won five singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour. On July 30, 2012, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 97. On May 13, 2013, she peaked at No. 121 in the doubles rankings.

Julia Sell was the co-head coach of women’s tennis at Louisiana State University with Michael Sell from 2015 to 2022. She was originally hired by LSU as the lone head coach of the women's tennis team in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cal State Fullerton Titans tennis</span>

The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's tennis team competes at the NCAA Division I Collegiate level and is a member of the Big West Conference. All home collegiate tennis matches are played at the California State University, Fullerton, Titan Courts, located in Fullerton, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Loeb</span> American tennis player (born 1995)

Jamie Loeb is an American tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eudice Chong</span> Hong Kong tennis player

Eudice Chong is a professional tennis player from Hong Kong. Chong has thus far captured four singles and 27 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In 2022, she reached career-highs in both singles and doubles when her WTA rankings peaked at No. 213 and No. 134, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesca Di Lorenzo</span> American tennis player

Francesca Di Lorenzo is an American former tennis player. She currently assistant coach of the University of Central Florida womens tennis team.

Maria Estela Perez-Somarriba is a Spanish tennis player. She competes on the ITF Women's Circuit. She played college tennis at the University of Miami.

Zuzana Zemenová is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships</span> Tennis tournament

The 2019 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships were men's and women's tennis tournaments played concurrently from May 3 to May 25, 2019, at campus sites and at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The events marked the 74th edition of the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship and the 38th edition of the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship.

Sara Daavettila is an American professional tennis player. Born in Michigan to a former college player, she had a successful junior career. She went undefeated in two seasons of high school tennis. She played five years of college tennis for the North Carolina Tar Heels, reaching a peak NCAA Division I singles ranking of No. 1. She reached at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships three times. Since turning professional she has played on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, where she has won one singles title and one doubles title.

References

  1. "Audra Cohen Bio - The Official Site of Oklahoma Sooner Sports". Archived from the original on 2019-02-19. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  2. Audra Cohen at the Women's Tennis Association
  3. Wechsler, Bob (September 21, 2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN   9781602800137. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2018 via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Audra Cohen". University of Miami Athletics. June 2, 2017. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  5. "Cohen To Be Inducted into Miami Sports HOF". University of Oklahoma. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Audra Cohen - University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame". UM Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  7. "Audra Cohen Voted Top Collegiate Female Tennis Player and Will Receive Honda Sports Award". University of Miami Athletics. Archived from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  8. "Tennis". CWSA. Archived from the original on 2019-07-28. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  9. 1 2 "OU women's tennis coach Audra Cohen inducted into Miami Sports Hall of Fame". Tulsa World. 19 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Audra Cohen - Head Coach - Women's Tennis Coaches". University of Oklahoma. Archived from the original on 2021-06-05. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  11. 1 2 Weber, Will (30 July 2016). "UNF tennis coach Audra Cohen resigns". Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2018-05-08.