Noam Behr
(1975 - )
Noam Behr is a left-handed player from Israel who turned pro in 1993. He achieved his highest singles ranking in October,
2001 (No. 127) and his highest doubles ranking in October, 1999 (No.
109). He is currently ranked No. 619 in singles and No. 516 in doubles
(as of July 8, 2004). Behr competed in the qualifying tournament at
Wimbledon in 2003, and lost in the first round to Tuomas Ketola of Finland,
2-6, 6-4, 4-6. Noam has achieved the majority of his success as a
doubles player. In 2000, he competed in doubles in three Grand Slam
events, the Australian Open, French Open, and U.S. Open, losing in the
first round in all three tournaments. In 2001, Noam and his partner,
Eyal Ran (also of Israel), also competed in Wimbledon and the French
Open (losing in the first round of both events).
In mid-July 2002, Noam reached the singles finals
of the Seascape Challenger Tournament -- while fellow Israelis Harel
Levy and Noam Okun reached the doubles semifinals, and Israeli Amir
Hadad and his partner Martin Vassallo Arguello won the doubles final!
At the 2002 U.S. Open, Behr was eliminated from the competition in the
second round of qualifying by fellow Israeli, Noam Okun, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
Beher and his Czech partner Otta Pokarek won the annual
Gratz doubles tournament held in Austria. They beat Brash and Landsberg
in the final, 6-3, 6-2. The winning duo was seeded fourth in the tournament.
Noam also competed at Gratz in singles play, but was eliminated in the
first round.
At the Belgrade competition Noam enjoyed one of his
best singles tournaments in his career in February 2004. He beat American
Kile Sherry 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. Switzerland's George Bastl
proved a high hurdle but was dispensed 7-6(4) 6-4. In the quarterfinals,
Behr beat Bulgarian Todor Enev 6-1, 7-5 before falling to Marco Chiudinelli
1-6, 2-6 in the semis. The run sent him up 83 places in the ATP rankings.
Sources: Jews
in Sports; Photo Jeff Davies, courtesy of ProPix.info |