Audra Marie Cohen (born April 21, 1986) is an American former professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
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
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
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
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
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
, mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State"
, type = Public research university
, established =
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.7billion (2021)
, pr ...
.
Her career-high world rank was 229 in singles, and 271 in doubles.
Early life
Cohen was born in California and is Jewish. 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.
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.
She was a four-time All-State and All-County Award recipient.
As a senior, she earned the
USTA
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
National Sportsmanship Award and was named USTA Florida Player of the Year.
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.
College career
Cohen attended
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
in the Fall of 2004, and won her first 23 singles matches.
She then won the ITA National Singles Title, the ITA National Indoor Doubles Championship, and the ITA Midwest Championships.
In 2004-05 at Northwestern, Cohen played No. 1 singles and was 51-7.
Her 51 wins tied her for third all-time since 1988.
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
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
Freshman of the Year and Athlete of the Year, was named to the All-Big Ten team.
Cohen later transferred after her freshman year and attended the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
, and played tennis for the
Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...
.
In 2005-2006 at Miami she was 34-2 in singles and 30-6 in doubles.
She sat out the fall season while recovering from injury that required serious back surgery.
She was named the ITA National Player of the Year, National Indoor Champion,
ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
Player of the Year, and All-ACC team.
She completed her first season ranked #1 in singles and #2 in doubles.
She was voted All-American in singles and doubles, and named to the All-NCAA tournament team at the No. 1 position.
In the Fall of 2006 she was 11-1, and won the National Indoor Championship.
During 2006-07, Cohen won the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship and the NCAA Singles championship.
She won the ITA National Player of the Year and ACC Player of the Year awards.
She also won the 2007
Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female tennis player.
Cohen was honored by
Miami-Dade County with “Audra Cohen Day” on June 29, 2007.
Cohen left Miami after her junior year to turn professional, with a record of 76-4 in singles.
She earned her B.A. in Psychology ''cum laude'' in 2009.
She was voted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Pro tournaments
She defeated world No. 92
Olga Savchuk
Olga Mykolayivna Savchuk ( uk, Ольга Миколаївна Савчук; born 20 September 1987) is a retired tennis player from Ukraine. Savchuk grew up in the city of Makiyivka in Donetsk province. She resides in Nassau, Bahamas.
Her best ...
, in August 2006 in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
. Cohen defeated world No 93
Varvara Lepchenko Varvara (Cyrillic: Варвара; el, Βαρβάρα, ''Varvára''), a variant of " Barbara", may refer to:
Places
*Varvara, Azerbaijan
* Varvara, Prozor, on the Rama river, Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Varvara, Burgas Province, Bulgaria
* Varvara ...
in a three-set match, in October 2006 in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...
.
In August 2007 in
Forest Hills, New York
Forest Hills is a mostly residential neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeas ...
, in her greatest upset to date, Cohen defeated world No. 59
Elena Likhovtseva
Elena Alexandrovna Likhovtseva (russian: Елена Александровна Лиховцева ; born 8 September 1975) is a Kazakhstani-born Russian former tennis player. She turned professional in January 1992, at the age of 16.
Together ...
of Russia. At the
2007 US Open, she entered as a
wild card and was defeated in the first round by
Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic (, ; born 9 September 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. Born in Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian father Zoran and Bosniak mother Amira, she moved to Germany at six months old and turned professional in 2006 a ...
of Germany. In April 2008 in
Amelia Island
Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlanti ...
she beat world No. 89
Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva (russian: Галина Олеговна Воскобоева; born 18 December 1984) is a professional Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 7 May 2012. He ...
. In May 2008, partnering with
Heidi El Tabakh
Heidi El Tabakh (born September 25, 1986) is an Egyptian-born Canadian former professional tennis player.
Her highest singles ranking by the WTA is 146, which she reached in October 2012. Her career-high of 173 in doubles, she set in February 20 ...
, she won the Landisville doubles.
In September 2008 in Beijing she defeated world No. 84
Anne Keothavong
Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a retired British tennis player. During her career, she won a total of 28 titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved on 23 Febru ...
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
The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...
Team USA, playing both
singles and doubles in tennis.
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
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
.
in 2011 she joined the
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sc ...
, as the head coach of the women's tennis team, the Ospreys.
She was a three-time
Atlantic Sun
The ''Atlantic Sun'' is a local newspaper for the West Coast region of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bou ...
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.
She was three-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year.
In 2016 she became the women’s tennis program head coach at the
University of Oklahoma
, mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State"
, type = Public research university
, established =
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.7billion (2021)
, pr ...
.
ITF finals
Singles: 2 (1–1)
Doubles: 2 (2–0)
See also
*
List of select Jewish tennis players
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
"Audra Cohen Named ITA National Player of the Year," 6/7/2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Audra
1986 births
Living people
American female tennis players
Jewish American sportspeople
Jewish tennis players
Miami Hurricanes women's tennis players
Northwestern Wildcats women's tennis players
Oklahoma Sooners women's tennis coaches
People from Plantation, Florida
Tennis people from California
Tennis players at the 2007 Pan American Games
Pan American Games competitors for the United States
St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) alumni
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American women
Sportspeople from Broward County, Florida
Tennis people from Florida
American tennis coaches