okker

Tom Okker

Tom Okker (born February 22 1944), nicknamed The Flying Dutchman and Tom the Twitch, is a former Dutch tennis player. He was ranked among the world's top 10 singles players for seven consecutive years, 1968 through 1974, reaching a career high of World No. 3 in 1969. He also was ranked World No. 1 in doubles in 1969.

Tennis career

Okker was the Dutch champion from 1964 through 1968. In 1968, he turned professional and won his first important tournament in singles and doubles (with Marty Riessen) at the Italian Open. At Wimbledon, Okker reached the quarterfinals in 1968 and the semifinals in 1978. He achieved his best result in a Grand Slam tournament in 1968, when he lost the final of the U.S. Open to Arthur Ashe 14-12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3.

Okker won 31 singles titles. As of 2000, 20 years after his retirement, Okker’s 31 career "open tennis" singles victories (combined ATP tour, Grand Prix, and WCT tournaments) still ranked 20th all-time. Among Okker’s singles titles were the 1970 German Open and Belgian Open, 1973 Dewar Cup and Canadian Open, and 1974 WCT Rothmans. He also was the runner-up in 24 singles tournaments.

Despite his success in singles, Okker is mostly remembered for being one of the most successful men's doubles player of all time. Okker won two Grand Slam doubles titles, the U.S. Open in 1976 (with Riessen) and the French Open (with John Newcombe) in 1973. In total, Okker won 78 doubles events, a record that was finally broken by Todd Woodbridge in 2005. Okker’s other doubles titles include: 1973 Italian Open; 1973 London Grass Courts (with Riessen); 1973 Spanish Open (with Ilie Nastase); 1975 Opel International (with Arthur Ashe); and 1978 WCT World Doubles (with Wojtek Fibak).

One of the first tennis professionals to win at least U.S. $1 million in career prize money, Okker's WTC career earnings stood at U.S. $1,257,200 when he retired in 1980.

Davis Cup

Between 1964 and 1981, Okker represented The Netherlands in Davis Cup play, where he was 15-20.

Maccabiah Games

In 1965 Okker won both the singles and the mixed doubles titles at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Style of play

Okker was a fan favorite with his animated, quick-footed play. He was a slight but canny player who often defeated larger, more powerful opponents.

Grand Slam singles final

Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1968	U.S. Open	Arthur Ashe	14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3

Open era singles finals

Titles (22)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1969	Rome, Italy	Clay	Bob Hewitt	10–8, 6–8, 6–1, 1–6, 6–0
2.	1969	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	John Newcombe	8–10, 6–1, 7–5, 6–3
3.	1969	Hilversum, Netherlands	Hard	Tom Gorman	6–3, 4–6, 7–6
4.	1969	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet	Earl Butch Buchholz	8–6, 6–2, 6–1
5.	1970	Hilversum, Netherlands	Hard	Roger Taylor	4–6, 6–0, 6–1, 6–3
6.	1970	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Ilie Năstase	4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–4
7.	1971	Louisville WCT, U.S.	Clay	Cliff Drysdale	3–6, 6–4, 6–1
8.	1971	Quebec WCT, Canada	Indoor	Rod Laver	6–3, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4
9.	1972	Chicago WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
10.	1973	Washington WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6–3, 6–7, 7–6
11.	1973	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Andrés Gimeno	2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–7, 6–3
12.	1973	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Manuel Orantes	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
13.	1973	Seattle, U.S.	Other	John Alexander	7–5, 6–4
14.	1973	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet	John Newcombe	3–6, 7–6, 6–3
15.	1973	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Jaime Fillol	4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–5
16.	1973	London, United Kingdom	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	6–3, 6–4
17.	1974	Toronto WCT, Canada	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	6–3, 6–4
18.	1974	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Tom Gorman	4–6, 7–6, 6–1
19.	1975	Nottingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Tony Roche	6–1, 3–6, 6–3
20.	1975	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Arthur Ashe	6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
21.	1977	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Vitas Gerulaitis	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
22.	1979	Tel-Aviv, Israel	Hard	Per Hjertquist	6–4, 6–3

Runner-ups (23)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1968	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Cliff Drysdale	6–3, 6–3, 6–0
2.	1968	U.S. Open, New York City	Grass	Arthur Ashe	14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
3.	1969	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Roy Emerson	6–1, 12–14, 6–4, 6–4
4.	1969	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Tony Roche	6–1, 5–7, 7–5, 8–6
5.	1970	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Tony Roche	7–5, 7–5, 6–3
6.	1971	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Ilie Năstase	3–6, 8–6, 6–1, 6–1
7.	1971	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	John Newcombe	6–2, 5–7, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3
8.	1971	Montreal, Canada	Clay	John Newcombe	7–6, 3–6, 6–2, 7–6
9.	1971	Toronto WCT, Canada	Carpet	John Newcombe	7–6, 3–6, 6–2, 7–6
10.	1971	Vancouver WCT, Canada	Outdoor	Ken Rosewall	6–2, 6–2, 6–4
11.	1972	Boston WCT, U.S.	Hard	Robert Lutz	6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
12.	1972	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Stan Smith	6–4, 6–3
13.	1972	Rotterdam WCT, Netherlands	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	3–6, 6–2, 6–1
14.	1973	Washington D.C., U.S.	Clay	Arthur Ashe	6–4, 6–2
15.	1973	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	7–5, 7–6
16.	1973	Masters, Boston	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3
17.	1974	Washington WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Ilie Năstase	6–3, 6–3
18.	1974	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Björn Borg	7–6, 6–1, 6–1
19.	1974	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Arthur Ashe	6–2, 6–2
20.	1975	Rotterdam WCT, Netherlands	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	3–6, 6–2, 6–4
21.	1975	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Buster Mottram	6–4, 6–2
22.	1975	Stockholm WCT, Sweden	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6–4, 6–2
23.	1978	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Balázs Taróczy	2–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4