Audra Cohen
Encyclopedia
Audra Marie Cohen is a right-handed American 5' 9" professional tennis
player with a two-handed backhand, living in Plantation, Florida
, who was the # 1 collegiate female tennis player in the United States in 2007. She is currently the assistant women's tennis coach at the University of Wisconsin.
Her world rank was 313 in singles and 349 in doubles as of August 31, 2009.
. She was runner-up in the Florida state championship in singles and doubles as a freshman. She won the championships in During her junior and senior seasons she won both the singles and doubles championships, was undefeated, earned All-American honors, and earned Player of the Year honors. She was also four-time All-State and All-County.
Designated #6 and the Florida Bush Open, and was a member of the Junior Fed Cup team.
In 2003 Cohen won the doubles title (with Sierra Poske) at the girls' 18 USTA Super National Winter Championships, and the singles and doubles titles (with Kristi Kay Miller) at the girls' 18 USTA Super National Clay Court Championships. She was again a member of the U.S. Junior Fed Cup team. In 2004 she won the doubles title (with Lindsay Burdette) at the girls' 18 Easter Bowl, USTA National Spring Championships.
. In the Fall of 2004 she began her career with 23 straight singles wins, before falling in the round of 16 at the ITA
National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, finishing the fall at 23–1. She became the first Northwestern player to win the ITA National Singles Title, and followed by winning the ITA Midwest Championships. She also teamed with Cristelle Grier to post a 12–0 doubles record and win the ITA National Indoor Doubles Championship.
In 2004–05 Cohen was 51–7 overall (46 of her 51 wins came in straight sets), 23–5 dual, 10–0 Big Ten in singles, and an All-American in singles and doubles. Cohen's 51 wins tied her for 3rd all-time in the modern era of NCAA Division I Women's Tennis (since 1988). Cohen was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Athlete of the Year, becoming only the 2nd women's tennis player in conference history to sweep those honors. She was also named to the All-Big Ten team, and earned the ITA Midwest Regional Rookie Player of the Year Award and the ITA's National Rookie of the Year Award. Cohen reached the finals of the NCAA singles championship. She finished the season ranked 3rd in singles, and 2nd in doubles, in the ITA rankings.
She was featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" department of Sports Illustrated
's Thursday, May 12 issue.
But she wasn’t happy at the school, and decided to transfer back to her home state of Florida to compete for the University of Miami
Hurricanes.
in her nerve
canal, leaving her with major pain in her lower back and “sleepy legs,” a condition which kept her from feeling anything in her legs. She needed just 6 months to recuperate, and her back has not given her any trouble since.
As a sophomore, she posted a 34–2 singles record, and a 30–6 mark in doubles. She was named the 2006 ITA National Player of the Year, and the ACC
Player of the Year. She helped lead the Hurricanes to the NCAA Championship Team Final, where she went 4–0 and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in the No. 1 singles position. She was also named to the 2006 All-ACC Academic Women's Tennis Team, and earned All-American honors in both singles and doubles. She finished her sophomore year at Miami as the No. 1 player in the ITA rankings, and was also ranked No. 2 in doubles alongside Melissa Applebaum.
Cohen won the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor singles title in November 2006.
Cohen recorded a perfect 11–0 mark in league play for the 2nd year in a row, and also went 10–1 in doubles. She was the nation's top-ranked player all season. On May 29, as the No. 1 seed she defeated Lindsey Nelson of USC
in straight sets (7–5, 6–2) to win the NCAA Women's Singles NCAA Championship. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez
proclaimed a day the following month to be "Audra Cohen Day" in Miami-Dade County in recognition of her winning the title. Cohen finished her season with a 42–2 singles record. Cohen finished the season ranked No. 19 in doubles alongside freshman Laura Vallverdu, as they finished 21–4.
She was named the 2007 Intercollegiate Tennis Association
(ITA) National Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, and was named to the 2007 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team and to the 2007 All-ACC Academic Women's Tennis Team. She also received the Honda Sports Award
for tennis.
Cohen was selected to compete in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Pan American Games
July 13–29, 2007. Also, with her NCAA championship, Cohen was expected to earn a wild-card entry into the U.S. Open.
She decided to forego her senior season for the professional tour. Cohen completed her collegiate career with a 127–11 record.
, where she captured her first professional title.
She defeated world # 92 Olga Savchuk
6–4, 6–4, in August 2006 in New Haven, Connecticut. She defeated world # 93 Varvara Lepchenko
3–6, 6–2, 6–0, in October 2006 in Augusta, Georgia.
In August 2007 in Forest Hills, New York, in her greatest upset to date, she defeated world # 59 Elena Likhovtseva
of Russia, 6–3, 6–4.
At the 2007 US Open, she entered as a wild card
and was defeated 6-4, 6-1 in first round by Andrea Petkovic
of Germany.
In April 2008 in Amelie Island she beat world # 89 Galina Voskoboeva
, 6–1, 6–3.
In May 2008, partering with Heidi El Tabakh
, she won the Landisville doubles.
In September 2008 in Beijing she defeated world # 84 Anne Keothavong
of Great Britain, 6–3, 6–4.
Her season-ending rankings were 579 in 2006, 384 in 2007, and 230 in 2008.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player with a two-handed backhand, living in Plantation, Florida
Plantation, Florida
Plantation is the name of the following places in the U.S. state of Florida:*Plantation, Florida, a city in Broward County; the largest of the places named "Plantation" in Florida*Plantation, Sarasota County, Florida, a census-designated place...
, who was the # 1 collegiate female tennis player in the United States in 2007. She is currently the assistant women's tennis coach at the University of Wisconsin.
Her world rank was 313 in singles and 349 in doubles as of August 31, 2009.
Early life
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 – first at her local club in California, and then in Florida, where she relocated with her family when she was 12.High school
Cohen attended St. Thomas Aquinas High SchoolSt. Thomas Aquinas High School (Fort Lauderdale)
St. Thomas Aquinas High School is a private, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory high school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, that educates young men and women in the Catholic tradition of youth formation. The school was founded in 1936 as part of St. Anthony School...
. She was runner-up in the Florida state championship in singles and doubles as a freshman. She won the championships in During her junior and senior seasons she won both the singles and doubles championships, was undefeated, earned All-American honors, and earned Player of the Year honors. She was also four-time All-State and All-County.
Junior tennis career
In 2001 Cohen won the girls' 18 singles title at the November USTA National Open Championships. In 2002 she won the girls' 18 singles titles at the FTAFTA
FTA may stand for:* The Faery Tale Adventure, a computer game* Freight Transport Association* Failure to appear, a legal term* Fault tree analysis, a systems engineering term* Federación de Trabajadores Arubanos, the Aruban Workers' Federation...
Designated #6 and the Florida Bush Open, and was a member of the Junior Fed Cup team.
In 2003 Cohen won the doubles title (with Sierra Poske) at the girls' 18 USTA Super National Winter Championships, and the singles and doubles titles (with Kristi Kay Miller) at the girls' 18 USTA Super National Clay Court Championships. She was again a member of the U.S. Junior Fed Cup team. In 2004 she won the doubles title (with Lindsay Burdette) at the girls' 18 Easter Bowl, USTA National Spring Championships.
Northwestern University
Cohen started her collegiate career at Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. In the Fall of 2004 she began her career with 23 straight singles wins, before falling in the round of 16 at the ITA
Ita
Ita or ITA may refer to:* Itá, Paraguay* ITA Software, Inc., a travel industry software firm* Italian language, from its ISO 639-2 language code* Italy, from its ISO 3166-1 country code* Aeta, an ethnic group in the Philippine Islands...
National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, finishing the fall at 23–1. She became the first Northwestern player to win the ITA National Singles Title, and followed by winning the ITA Midwest Championships. She also teamed with Cristelle Grier to post a 12–0 doubles record and win the ITA National Indoor Doubles Championship.
In 2004–05 Cohen was 51–7 overall (46 of her 51 wins came in straight sets), 23–5 dual, 10–0 Big Ten in singles, and an All-American in singles and doubles. Cohen's 51 wins tied her for 3rd all-time in the modern era of NCAA Division I Women's Tennis (since 1988). Cohen was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Athlete of the Year, becoming only the 2nd women's tennis player in conference history to sweep those honors. She was also named to the All-Big Ten team, and earned the ITA Midwest Regional Rookie Player of the Year Award and the ITA's National Rookie of the Year Award. Cohen reached the finals of the NCAA singles championship. She finished the season ranked 3rd in singles, and 2nd in doubles, in the ITA rankings.
She was featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" department of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's Thursday, May 12 issue.
But she wasn’t happy at the school, and decided to transfer back to her home state of Florida to compete for the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
Hurricanes.
University of Miami
Before beginning her sophomore year at Miami, Cohen developed a problem in her back that required major surgery to repair two fractures in her vertebrae with by screwing in a piece of her pelvis, and a hematomaHematoma
A hematoma, or haematoma, is a localized collection of blood outside the blood vessels, usually in liquid form within the tissue. This distinguishes it from an ecchymosis, which is the spread of blood under the skin in a thin layer, commonly called a bruise...
in her nerve
Nerve
A peripheral nerve, or simply nerve, is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of peripheral axons . A nerve provides a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that are transmitted along each of the axons. Nerves are found only in the peripheral nervous system...
canal, leaving her with major pain in her lower back and “sleepy legs,” a condition which kept her from feeling anything in her legs. She needed just 6 months to recuperate, and her back has not given her any trouble since.
As a sophomore, she posted a 34–2 singles record, and a 30–6 mark in doubles. She was named the 2006 ITA National Player of the Year, and the ACC
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
Player of the Year. She helped lead the Hurricanes to the NCAA Championship Team Final, where she went 4–0 and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in the No. 1 singles position. She was also named to the 2006 All-ACC Academic Women's Tennis Team, and earned All-American honors in both singles and doubles. She finished her sophomore year at Miami as the No. 1 player in the ITA rankings, and was also ranked No. 2 in doubles alongside Melissa Applebaum.
Cohen won the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor singles title in November 2006.
Cohen recorded a perfect 11–0 mark in league play for the 2nd year in a row, and also went 10–1 in doubles. She was the nation's top-ranked player all season. On May 29, as the No. 1 seed she defeated Lindsey Nelson of USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in straight sets (7–5, 6–2) to win the NCAA Women's Singles NCAA Championship. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez
Carlos Alvarez (mayor)
Carlos Alvarez is a Cuban American politician, and the former mayor of Miami-Dade County. He was first elected mayor in 2004, and re-elected in 2008. His mayoralty ended in March 2011 after a recall election...
proclaimed a day the following month to be "Audra Cohen Day" in Miami-Dade County in recognition of her winning the title. Cohen finished her season with a 42–2 singles record. Cohen finished the season ranked No. 19 in doubles alongside freshman Laura Vallverdu, as they finished 21–4.
She was named the 2007 Intercollegiate Tennis Association
Intercollegiate Tennis Association
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association is an organization of 1,500 coaches and 15,000 collegiate tennis players, encompassing more than 1,000 college tennis programs...
(ITA) National Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, and was named to the 2007 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team and to the 2007 All-ACC Academic Women's Tennis Team. She also received the Honda Sports Award
Honda Sports Award
The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States of America, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Award are automatically in the running for the Honda-Broderick Cup award, as...
for tennis.
Cohen was selected to compete in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Pan American Games
Pan American Games
The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
July 13–29, 2007. Also, with her NCAA championship, Cohen was expected to earn a wild-card entry into the U.S. Open.
She decided to forego her senior season for the professional tour. Cohen completed her collegiate career with a 127–11 record.
Pro tournaments
She was one of 12 collegiate players to be named to the 2006 USTA Summer Collegiate Team, an elite training program designed to give college’s top players exposure to professional tennis by competing on the USTA Pro Circuit. Cohen played in four USTA Circuit events, and reached the semifinals or better in three, including the $10,000 event in Evansville, IndianaEvansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
, where she captured her first professional title.
She defeated world # 92 Olga Savchuk
Olga Savchuk
Olga Savchuk is a female tennis player. Her best accomplishment to date was reaching the third round of the 2006 Australian Open. Her career high ranking was #79, achieved on May 19, 2008....
6–4, 6–4, in August 2006 in New Haven, Connecticut. She defeated world # 93 Varvara Lepchenko
Varvara Lepchenko
Varvara Lepchenko is an American female professional tennis player. She reached her singles career high of no. 74 on November 15, 2010. She has won six ITF titles during her career.-Early life and junior career:...
3–6, 6–2, 6–0, in October 2006 in Augusta, Georgia.
In August 2007 in Forest Hills, New York, in her greatest upset to date, she defeated world # 59 Elena Likhovtseva
Elena Likhovtseva
Elena Alexandrovna Likhovtseva is a Russian tennis player, currently inactive. She turned professional in January 1992 at the age of 16.Likhovtseva's career best appearance in a Grand Slam was when she reached the semi finals of the French Open 2005 before she was defeated by Mary Pierce, 6–1 6–1...
of Russia, 6–3, 6–4.
At the 2007 US Open, she entered as a wild card
Wild card (sports)
The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...
and was defeated 6-4, 6-1 in first round by Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic is a professional German tennis player of Serbian origin. She is the highest ranked German tennis player. She lives in Griesheim near Darmstadt, Germany....
of Germany.
In April 2008 in Amelie Island she beat world # 89 Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva is a professional Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. She reached her career-high singles rank of World No. 56 on October 10, 2011. Her career high in doubles is 31st, set at January 29, 2007.-Early life:...
, 6–1, 6–3.
In May 2008, partering with Heidi El Tabakh
Heidi El Tabakh
Heidi El Tabakh is an Egyptian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 149, which she reached on February 22, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 173, which she reached on February 8, 2010...
, she won the Landisville doubles.
In September 2008 in Beijing she defeated world # 84 Anne Keothavong
Anne Keothavong
Anne Viensouk Keothavong is a British professional tennis player. She is a former long-standing British number 1, however she is the current British number 2, behind Elena Baltacha and is ranked 71st in the world...
of Great Britain, 6–3, 6–4.
Her season-ending rankings were 579 in 2006, 384 in 2007, and 230 in 2008.
Miscellaneous
- Cohen majored in Psychology.
- Her favorite playing surface is clay.
- Her hobbies include soccer, golf, swimming, volleyball, baseball, roller hockeyRoller hockeyRoller Hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using skates with wheels. The term "Roller Hockey" is often used interchangeably to refer to two variant forms chiefly differentiated by the type of skate used. There is traditional "Roller Hockey," played with quad roller skates, and...
, and making balloon animals.