Tom Okker

Early life Okker was born in Amsterdam, is Jewish on his father's side, and identifies as Jewish. Okker's father 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 registered professional, he won in singles and in 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 at the 1968 US Open, where he competed as a registered professional player, a professional player allowed to compete for prize money but playing under the control of their national associations and eligible to play in Davis Cup. 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. Okker was awarded the first prize money at the 1968 U.S. Open, as Ashe was still considered an amateur player rather than a registered professional. In February 1969, Okker signed a four-year contract with the Lamar Hunt's World Championship Tennis.

In his career, won 39 singles titles. He also was the runner-up in 39 singles tournaments.

Personal life Okker and his wife Anna-Marie have three children together. 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.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1968 US Open Grass Arthur Ashe 12–14, 7–5, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6

Doubles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Career finals Singles: 78 (39 titles, 39 runner-ups)

Doubles: 104 (68 titles, 36 runner-ups)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline