Lester Cook (born April 24, 1984) [1] is an American former professional tennis player.

As a junior, he was top 5 in the country in the 18 and under division, finishing 4th place at the prestigious Kalamazoo Hard Court Nationals and 3rd in the International Grass Court and International Hard Court championships that same year. At 16, he competed in the French Open, U.S. Open, Australian Open, and the Orange Bowl, proudly earning 6 National Sportsmanship awards along the way.

A year later Lester entered college at 17, pursuing a degree in Economics at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. In his 3 years at Texas A&M under the tutelage of Tim Cass, Lester was a 3 time All-American finishing with a career high ITA ranking of No. 6 in singles and No. 1 in doubles with partner Ante Matijevic. After his junior year, Lester was one of six players asked to represent the U.S. Collegiate All-star Team in a scrimmage match against the Chinese National team.

In 2005, Lester left college and turned pro. In his 6 years on tour, Lester had the privilege of traveling to over 30 countries and 31 states following his dream of being the best tennis player in the world. Along the way he won 8 professional singles titles as well as 18 professional doubles titles reaching a career high ranking of No. 191 in singles and No. 175 in doubles. He competed in all 4 grand slams as a professional and also participated in 3 World Team Tennis seasons, being drafted by the Delaware Smash and Newport Beach Breakers twice.

He won the men's singles in the Ojai Tennis Tournament in 2007, 2009, and 2010.[2]

At the end of 2011, Lester retired from the tour and was focused on building a career in real estate. In 2014 he married his girlfriend of five years, Katie. They have two children and live in Ojai, CA with their many rescue animals including horses, goats, dogs, and a hamster. Lester currently works in real estate in both Los Angeles and Ventura County.

Coaching career

- Teaching pro at Malibu Racquet Club starting September 2013

- USTA high performance coach for Jr Davis Cup Team Feb 2014

- Hitting Partner for Sloane Stephens July–December 2014

After retiring from professional tennis, Cook because a real estates agent in Ojai, starting his own (self-named) agency.[3]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 10 (7–3)

Legend
ATP Challenger (0–1)
ITF Futures (7–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–2)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Jun 2006Thailand F1, BangkokFuturesHardHyung-Kwon Kim]6–3, 6–1
Win2–0Sep 2006Mexico F14, MonterreyFuturesHardMiguel Gallardo-Valles7–6(7–3), 4–6, 7–6(7–2)
Loss2–1Feb 2007Costa Rica F1, San JoséFuturesHardPeter Polansky6–2, 5–7, 3–6
Win3–1Jun 2007Japan F6, KusatsuFuturesCarpetTakahiro Terachi6–3, 2–6, 6–4
Win4–1Oct 2007USA F25, Laguna NiguelFuturesHardNikita Kryvonos6–2, 6–3
Win5–1Nov 2007USA F28, WaikoluFuturesHardCarsten Ball5–7, 7–6(7–2), 6–3
Win6–1Oct 2008USA F25, Laguna NiguelFuturesHardMartin Pedersen6–2, 6–2
Win7–1Mar 2009USA F6, McAllenFuturesHardAndrey Kumantsov1–6, 6–2, 4–0 ret.
Loss7–2Sep 2010Tulsa, United StatesChallengerHardBobby Reynolds3–6, 3–6
Loss7–3May 2011USA F12, TampaFuturesClayBlake Strode3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 19 (13–6)

Legend
ATP Challenger (2–2)
ITF Futures (11–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (11–5)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Dec 2002USA F30, Laguna NiguelFuturesHardJason CookBrandon Hawk
Huntley Montgomery		6–2, 6–4
Win2–0Jun 2003USA F14, SunnyvaleFuturesHardRyan NewportBrian Wilson
Nick Rainey		2–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win3–0Jul 2004USA F16, ChicoFuturesHardJason CookSam Warburg
KC Corkery		7–5, 7–6(7–5)
Win4–0Feb 2005USA F4, BrownsvilleFuturesHardRob SteckleyTres Davis
Eric Nunez		walkover
Loss4–1Oct 2005USA F25, Laguna NiguelFuturesHardRob SteckleyPhilip Gubenco
Erik Chvojka		6–7(4–7), 6–4, 1–6
Loss4–2Jun 2006Thailand F1, BangkokFuturesHardRob SteckleyRubén Torres
Izak Van Der Merwe		4–6, 3–6
Loss4–3Aug 2006Mexico F13, MonterreyFuturesClayShane La PorteMiguel Gallardo-Valles
Carlos Palencia		3–6, 4–6
Win5–3Sep 2006Mexico F14, MonterreyFuturesHardShane La PorteJorge Aguilar
Daniel Garza		6–3, 6–4
Win6–3Jun 2007Guatemala F1, Guatemala CityFuturesHardShane La PorteMiguel Gallardo-Valles
Carlos Palencia		6–3, 7–5
Win7–3Jun 2007Japan F6, KusatsuFuturesCarpetShane La PorteHiroyasu Sato
Joji Miyao		4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–1)
Win8–3Nov 2007USA F28, WaikoluFuturesHardShane La PorteCarsten Ball
Rylan Rizza		6–2, 6–3
Loss8–4Apr 2008Humacao, Puerto RicoChallengerHardKevin KimBobby Reynolds
Rajeev Ram		3–6, 4–6
Win9–4May 2008Bradenton, United StatesChallengerClayCarsten BallRyler Deheart
Todd Widom		4–6, 6–3, [10–6]
Loss9–5Feb 2009Carson, United StatesChallengerHardDonald YoungScott Lipsky
David Martin		6–7(3–7), 6–4, [6–10]
Win10–5Feb 2009USA F4, BrownsvilleFuturesHardShane La PorteTigran Martirosyan
Jesse Witten		6–1, 7–5
Loss10–6Apr 2009USA F7, MobileFuturesHardTreat HueyMilos Raonic
Philip Bester		3–6, 6–1, [5–10]
Win11–6Jun 2009USA F13, SacramentoFuturesHardTreat HueyAndrew Coelho
Adam Feeney		6–4, 3–6, [10–2]
Win12–6Oct 2009Sacramento, United StatesChallengerHardDavid MartinSantiago Gonzalez
Travis Rettenmaier		4–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Win13–6Apr 2010USA F9, Little RockFuturesHardBrett JoelsonBrydan Klein
John Millman		6–4, 3–6, [10–7]

Performance timeline

Singles

Tournament20072008200920102011SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAQ1A0 / 00–0
French OpenAAAQ1A0 / 00–0
WimbledonAAAQ1Q10 / 00–0
US OpenQ1AQ1Q1A0 / 00–0
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00 / 00–0
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells MastersAAQ1Q2Q10 / 00–0
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00 / 00–0

References

  1. ^ ATP Player Profile
  2. ^ "OJAI Records of Events Index". The Ojai Tennis Tournament. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022.
  3. ^ "About". Lester Cook Real Estate. Retrieved 21 June 2021.