Audra Cohen

Audra Marie Cohen (born 21 April1986 in California) 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.

Her world rank is 251 in singles and 739 in doubles as of 7 July2008. [ [http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/players/playerprofiles/Playerbio.asp?PlayerID=311353&
] ]

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 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 FTA 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.

College career

Northwestern University

Cohen started her collegiate career at Northwestern University. 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 12th 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.

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 hematoma 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, [http://www.collegetennisonline.com/view/news.aspx?nwId=25513] 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. [http://www.hokiesports.com/wtennis/recaps/20070419aaa.html] On May 29th, 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. [http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=192&p=2&c=647431] . 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. [http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=28697&SPID=2229&DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=924989] She also received the Honda Sports Award for tennis.

Cohen was selected to compete in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Pan American Games to be held July 13–29, 2007. Also, with her NCAA championship, Cohen is expected to earn a wild-card entry into the U.S. Open.

She has decided to forego her senior season for the professional tour. Cohen completed her collegiate career with a 127–11 record. [http://www.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/stories/060807aac.html]

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, Indiana, 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.

tyle of play

Miscellaneous

* Cohen is a Psychology major.
* Her favorite playing surface is clay.
* Her hobbies include soccer, golf, swimming, volleyball, baseball, roller hockey, and making balloon animals.

References

External links

* [http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/players/playerprofiles/Playerbio.asp?PlayerID=311353 WTA bio]
* [http://www.audracohen.com/ Official website]
* [http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/cohen_audra01.html Northwestern University profile]
* [http://www.usta.com/news/printstory.sps?inewsid=58703 "Audra Cohen: Junior Spotlight of the Week," 4/22/04]
* [http://www.collegetennisonline.com/view/news.aspx?nwId=25513 "Audra Cohen Named ITA National Player of the Year," 6/7/06]