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

He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 95 in April 2002. 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.

Early life

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

Tennis career

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 18 (10–8) LegendATP Challenger (5–3)ITF Futures (5–5)Finals by surfaceHard (9–6)Clay (1–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–1)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Ireland F1, DublinFuturesCarpet Michael Hill6–4, 4–6, 3–6Loss0–2Greece F5, AthensFuturesClay Lior Mor4–6, 1–6Loss0–3Uzbekistan F2, NamanganFuturesHard Oleg Ogorodov3–6, 6–2, 3–6Win1–3Poland F1, KrakówFuturesClay Bartlomiej Dabrowski6–1, 7–6Loss1–4Tel Aviv, IsraelChallengerHard Ctislav Doseděl6–7, 3–6Loss1–5Chandigarh, IndiaChallengerHard Dennis Van Scheppingen3–6, 5–7Win2–5Jerusalem, IsraelChallengerHard Michaël Llodra6–4, 6–1Win3–5Andorra la Vella, AndorraChallengerHard Christian Vinck6–2, 6–4Win4–5Tyler, United StatesChallengerHard Vince Spadea7–5, 6–2Win5–5Binghamton, United StatesChallengerHard Danai Udomchoke6–3, 4–6, 6–1Loss5–6Lubbock, United StatesChallengerHard Sam Querrey1–6, 4–6Win6–6Winnetka, United StatesChallengerHard Kevin Anderson6–4, 6–3Win7–6Israel F2, EilatFuturesHard Harel Levy6–4, 6–4Loss7–7Israel F3, EilatFuturesHard Harel LevywalkoverWin8–7Israel F4, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Mikal Statham6–2, 6–1Win9–7Israel F5, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Miloslav Mečíř6–3, 6–2Win10–7Israel F6, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Marcus Daniell7–6(7–4), 6–2Loss10–8Israel F3, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Isak Arvidsson6–4, 3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 22 (11–11) LegendATP Challenger (9–7)ITF Futures (2–4)Finals by surfaceHard (9–11)Clay (1–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0India F1, New DelhiFuturesHard Jonathan Erlich Lior Mor Jamie Delgado6–7, 7–6, 7–6Loss1–1India F3, IndoreFuturesHard Jonathan Erlich Ali Hamadeh Andrew Rueb6–7, 4–6Loss1–2Tel Aviv, IsraelChallengerHard Nir Welgreen Radek Štěpánek Michal Tabara6–7, 3–6Win2–2Ahmedabad, IndiaChallengerHard Nir Welgreen Noam Behr Eyal Ran3–6, 6–0, 6–4Win3–2Budapest, HungaryChallengerClay Harel Levy Daniel Fiala Leoš Friedl6–4, 4–6, 6–2Win4–2São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard André Sá Cedric Kauffmann Flávio Saretta6–4, 1–6, 6–4Win5–2Kyoto, JapanChallengerCarpet Noam Behr Kelly Gullett Brandon Hawk6–3, 7–5Win6–2Hamilton, New ZealandChallengerHard Noam Behr Tuomas Ketola Filippo Messori7–6(7–4), 6–4Loss6–3Jerusalem, IsraelChallengerHard Noam Behr Jonathan Erlich Michaël Llodra5–7, 6–4, 6–7(2–7)Win7–3Córdoba, SpainChallengerHard Brandon Coupe Juan Ignacio Carrasco Albert Portas6–4, 1–6, 6–4Win8–3Tallahassee, United StatesChallengerHard Matías Boeker Mark Hlawaty Brad Weston6–7(3–7), 6–3, 6–4Loss8–4Bratislava, SlovakiaChallengerHard Jonathan Erlich Simon Aspelin Graydon Oliver6–7(5–7), 3–6Loss8–5Aptos, United StatesChallengerHard Harel Levy Nathan Healey Eric Taino5–7, 6–7(4–7)Win9–5Istanbul, TurkeyChallengerHard Harel Levy David Škoch Martin Štěpánek6–4, 7–5Loss9–6Durban, South AfricaChallengerHard Stéphane Bohli Rik de Voest Dominik Meffert4–6, 2–6Loss9–7Lanzarote, SpainChallengerHard Dudi Sela Rik de Voest Luke Bourgeois3–6, 1–6Win10–7Aptos, United StatesChallengerHard Amir Weintraub Todd Widom Michael Yani6–2, 6–1Loss10–8Donetsk, UkraineChallengerHard Harel Levy Xavier Malisse Dick Norman6–4, 1–6, [11–13]Win11–8Israel F2, EilatFuturesHard Harel Levy Tim Van Terheijden Jürgen Zopp6–3, 6–0Loss11–9Israel F8, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Noam Behr Ti Chen Marcus Daniell6–7(1–7) ret.Loss11–10Israel F9, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Aviv Ben Shabat Ti Chen Marcus Daniell0–6, 2–6Loss11–11Israel F14, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Noam Behr Gabor Borsos Ádám Kellner4–6, 6–7(7–9)

Performance timeline

Singles Tournament199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenA1RQ31RQ2Q2Q2Q1Q1Q2AQ20 / 20–2French OpenQ1AQ2AQ2Q1Q3Q2Q1Q2AA0 / 00–0WimbledonAAQ21RQ3A1RQ3Q1AAQ10 / 20–2US OpenQ3AQ32RQ2Q2Q32RQ1AAQ30 / 22–2Win–loss0–00–10–01–30–00–00–11–10–00–00–00–00 / 62–6ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian Wells MastersAAAAAAQ2AAAAA0 / 00–0Miami OpenAAAQ2AAQ1AAAAA0 / 00–0Canada MastersAAAQ2Q1Q21RAAAAA0 / 10–1Cincinnati MastersAAA1R2RQ2AAAAAA0 / 21–2Shanghai MastersNot HeldQ2A0 / 00–0Win–loss0–00–00–00–11–10–00–10–00–00–00–00–00 / 31–3

Davis Cup

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. His Davis Cup record also includes big wins in live rubbers over Wayne Ferreira, Jarkko Nieminen, and Andreas Seppi.

See also List of select Jewish tennis players

References

External links

Jews in Sports bio