Thomas Samuel Okker is a Dutch former tennis player who was active from the mid-1960s until 1980. He was ranked among the world's top-ten singles players for seven consecutive years, 1968–74, reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1974. He also was ranked world No. 1 in doubles in 1969.
Early life
Okker was born in Amsterdam, is Jewish on his father's side, and identifies as Jewish. Okker's father was Jewish, and was imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II, but managed to go into hiding by assuming the papers and identity of another man.
Tennis career
He played his first tournament at Wolfsburg, West Germany, on clay in 1963. Okker was the Dutch champion from 1964 through 1968. In 1968, his first year as a professional, he won in singles and in doubles 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 at the 1968 US Open, where he competed as a registered player, an amateur allowed to compete for prize money but playing under the control of their national associations. Okker reached the final after defeating Pancho Gonzales in the quarterfinal and Ken Rosewall in the semifinal. He lost the final to Arthur Ashe in five sets. In February 1969, Okker signed a four-year contract with the Lamar Hunt's World Championship Tennis. In his career, won 40 singles titles. He also was the runner-up in 37 singles tournaments. Okker is also among the most successful men's doubles players of all time. He won two Grand Slam doubles titles, at the US Open in 1976 and the French Open 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 the 1973 Italian Open, 1973 London Grass Courts, 1973 Spanish Open, 1975 Opel International, and 1978 WCT World Doubles. One of the first tennis professionals to win at least US $1 million in career prize money, Okker's WTC career earnings stood at $1,257,200 when he retired in 1980.
In 1965, Okker won both the singles and the mixed doubles titles at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. This event is open to all Israelis and to non-Israeli Jews.
Style of play
He was among the first players of his era to hit the ball with heavy topspin.
Since the mid-1980s Okker has been involved in art and was a founding partner in the Jaski art gallery in Amsterdam, specializing in works of the CoBrA movement. In 2005, he founded art gallery Tom Okker Art bv in Hazerswoude-Dorp, Netherlands, where he now lives.
