Lester Cook (born April 24, 1984) 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.
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.
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals Singles: 10 (7–3) LegendATP Challenger (0–1)ITF Futures (7–2)Finals by surfaceHard (6–2)Clay (0–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Thailand F1, BangkokFuturesHard Hyung-Kwon Kim]6–3, 6–1Win2–0Mexico F14, MonterreyFuturesHard Miguel Gallardo-Valles7–6(7–3), 4–6, 7–6(7–2)Loss2–1Costa Rica F1, San JoséFuturesHard Peter Polansky6–2, 5–7, 3–6Win3–1Japan F6, KusatsuFuturesCarpet Takahiro Terachi6–3, 2–6, 6–4Win4–1USA F25, Laguna NiguelFuturesHard Nikita Kryvonos6–2, 6–3Win5–1USA F28, WaikoluFuturesHard Carsten Ball5–7, 7–6(7–2), 6–3Win6–1USA F25, Laguna NiguelFuturesHard Martin Pedersen6–2, 6–2Win7–1USA F6, McAllenFuturesHard Andrey Kumantsov1–6, 6–2, 4–0 ret.Loss7–2Tulsa, United StatesChallengerHard Bobby Reynolds3–6, 3–6Loss7–3USA F12, TampaFuturesClay Blake Strode3–6, 4–6
Doubles: 19 (13–6) LegendATP Challenger (2–2)ITF Futures (11–4)Finals by surfaceHard (11–5)Clay (1–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0USA F30, Laguna NiguelFuturesHard Jason Cook Brandon Hawk Huntley Montgomery6–2, 6–4Win2–0USA F14, SunnyvaleFuturesHard Ryan Newport Brian Wilson Nick Rainey2–6, 6–3, 6–1Win3–0USA F16, ChicoFuturesHard Jason Cook Sam Warburg KC Corkery7–5, 7–6(7–5)Win4–0USA F4, BrownsvilleFuturesHard Rob Steckley Tres Davis Eric NunezwalkoverLoss4–1USA F25, Laguna NiguelFuturesHard Rob Steckley Philip Gubenco Erik Chvojka6–7(4–7), 6–4, 1–6Loss4–2Thailand F1, BangkokFuturesHard Rob Steckley Rubén Torres Izak Van Der Merwe4–6, 3–6Loss4–3Mexico F13, MonterreyFuturesClay Shane La Porte Miguel Gallardo-Valles Carlos Palencia3–6, 4–6Win5–3Mexico F14, MonterreyFuturesHard Shane La Porte Jorge Aguilar Daniel Garza6–3, 6–4Win6–3Guatemala F1, Guatemala CityFuturesHard Shane La Porte Miguel Gallardo-Valles Carlos Palencia6–3, 7–5Win7–3Japan F6, KusatsuFuturesCarpet Shane La Porte Hiroyasu Sato Joji Miyao4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–1)Win8–3USA F28, WaikoluFuturesHard Shane La Porte Carsten Ball Rylan Rizza6–2, 6–3Loss8–4Humacao, Puerto RicoChallengerHard Kevin Kim Bobby Reynolds Rajeev Ram3–6, 4–6Win9–4Bradenton, United StatesChallengerClay Carsten Ball Ryler Deheart Todd Widom4–6, 6–3, [10–6]Loss9–5Carson, United StatesChallengerHard Donald Young Scott Lipsky David Martin6–7(3–7), 6–4, [6–10]Win10–5USA F4, BrownsvilleFuturesHard Shane La Porte Tigran Martirosyan Jesse Witten6–1, 7–5Loss10–6USA F7, MobileFuturesHard Treat Huey Milos Raonic Philip Bester3–6, 6–1, [5–10]Win11–6USA F13, SacramentoFuturesHard Treat Huey Andrew Coelho Adam Feeney6–4, 3–6, [10–2]Win12–6Sacramento, United StatesChallengerHard David Martin Santiago Gonzalez Travis Rettenmaier4–6, 6–3, [10–5]Win13–6USA F9, Little RockFuturesHard Brett Joelson Brydan Klein John Millman6–4, 3–6, [10–7]
Performance timeline
Singles Tournament20072008200920102011SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAQ1A0 / 00–0French OpenAAAQ1A0 / 00–0WimbledonAAAQ1Q10 / 00–0US OpenQ1AQ1Q1A0 / 00–0Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00 / 00–0ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian Wells MastersAAQ1Q2Q10 / 00–0Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00 / 00–0
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