Louk Sorensen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Louk Sorensen

Country (sports)	Ireland
Residence	Stuttgart, Germany
Born	(1985-01-07) 7 January 1985 (age 40) Schwäbisch Hall, Germany
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	2003
Retired	2015
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$ 199,032
Singles
Career record	5–6 (in ATP Tour, Grand Slam main draw matches and Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 175 (15 September 2014)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (2010)
French Open	Q1 (2010)
Wimbledon	Q2 (2008)
US Open	1R (2011)
Doubles
Career record	0–0 (in ATP (World) Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 552 (12 December 2005)

Louk Sorensen (born on January 7, 1985) is an Irish former professional tennis player. He made history as the first player from Ireland to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era. The Open Era started in 1968 when professional players were allowed to compete in major tournaments. Louk's father, Sean, was the first Irishman to play in a Grand Slam main draw during the Open Era.

Louk Sorensen played his last professional tournament in 2015. After retiring from playing, he started coaching other tennis players. He currently coaches Australian player John Millman.

About Louk Sorensen

Louk Sorensen's father, Sean, is the current captain of the Irish Davis Cup team. The Davis Cup is a big international team competition in men's tennis. Sean also played at Wimbledon in 1977.

Louk has an older brother, Kevin, who was also a professional tennis player. Kevin played for Ireland in the Davis Cup until 2006. Louk also has two sisters, Lisa and Josephine.

Louk grew up in Germany and still lives in Stuttgart. He trained with German coach Carsten Arriens. Louk was an important part of the Irish Davis Cup team. He won 10 singles matches and lost only 2, starting from his first match in July 2005.

Louk's Tennis Career

Starting Out: 2006-2007

Louk Sorensen began his professional tennis journey in 2006. He played in a tournament called the France F15 Futures event. Futures tournaments are where new professional players start to earn ranking points.

In February 2007, Louk won his first big title at the Portugal F1 Futures event. He beat Canadian player Pierre-Ludovic Duclos easily in the final. Soon after, he reached another final in Dubai and then won the U.A.E. F2 Futures tournament there just a week later.

Breaking Through: 2008-2009

In January 2008, Louk was a runner-up at another Futures tournament in Portugal. But then, in February, he won his first ATP Challenger event. Challenger tournaments are a step up from Futures events. He won the Volkswagen Challenger in Germany, beating Farrukh Dustov in a tough final. This win helped him reach his highest ATP ranking of 246 in April 2008.

Louk tried to qualify for his first Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon in June 2008. He won his first qualifying match but had to stop playing in the next match because of an injury.

In January 2009, he tried to qualify for the Australian Open. He won his first qualifying match but again lost in the second round. After this, he reached the final of a Futures tournament in Croatia.

Grand Slam Success: 2010

The year 2010 was a big one for Louk. He started by qualifying for his first ATP World Tour 250 series tournament in Chennai, India.

Then, he made history by qualifying for the Australian Open. He was the first Irish tennis player to qualify for a Grand Slam since 1985! He won three tough qualifying matches to get into the main part of the tournament.

In the first round of the Australian Open, Louk played against Lu Yen-hsun from Chinese Taipei. Louk won the match in four sets. This made him the first player representing Ireland to ever win a Grand Slam match in the Open Era! In the second round, he played against tall American player John Isner and lost.

After the Australian Open, Louk's ranking jumped up a lot. He went from No. 284 to a career-high No. 213. However, he then faced a three-month break due to a hamstring injury. He tried to qualify for the French Open later that year but lost in the first round.

Comebacks and Challenges: 2011-2012

In May 2011, Louk announced he was retiring from tennis because of ongoing injuries. But just a month later, he decided to come back! He played in a Futures tournament in Germany and reached the quarterfinals before another injury forced him to stop.

In July, Louk played in the qualifying rounds for the 2011 MercedesCup. He won two matches but lost in the final qualifying round.

Later in 2011, Louk played in the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year. Even though his ranking had dropped because of his injuries, he was allowed to use a "protected ranking" to enter the qualifying stage. He won three qualifying matches, beating higher-ranked players. This meant that two Irish players, Louk and Conor Niland, qualified for the main draw of the US Open!

In the first round, Louk was supposed to play against World No. 6, Robin Söderling. But Söderling got sick, so Louk played against Rogério Dutra da Silva instead. Louk had to stop playing during the match because of cramps.

The rest of 2011 was tough for Louk, as he continued to struggle with injuries and lost early in several tournaments. 2012 was also a year full of injuries for him, and he played very few matches.

Pushing Forward: 2013-2014

After a long 12-month break due to injury, Louk returned to tennis in 2013. He started playing in Futures and Challenger tournaments again. In September, he reached the final of the 2013 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup, a Challenger event. This great run helped his ranking jump up by 574 spots! He then reached another final in Greece but had to withdraw because of an injury.

In 2014, Louk continued to improve his ranking. He won his first title in over six years at a Futures event in China. He also reached the semi-finals of a Challenger event in Chile.

Louk almost made it into the main draw of an ATP Tour event (the highest level of tournaments) in Düsseldorf, Germany, but lost in the final qualifying round. He then played in the qualifying rounds for Wimbledon again but lost his first match.

Later in 2014, Louk qualified for the 2014 MercedesCup, an ATP Tour event. He had lost in the final qualifying round but got into the main draw as a "lucky loser." This means he got a spot because another player pulled out. In a big surprise, Louk won his first-round match against world number 68 Igor Sijsling. This was his second win at an ATP Tour event. In the second round, he played a very close match against the third seed, Roberto Bautista Agut, but lost. Even though he lost, his strong performance helped him reach a new career-high ranking of 211.

Career Highlights

Louk Sorensen played in 11 singles finals in ATP Challenger and ITF Futures tournaments, winning 5 of them. He also won 1 doubles title.

Singles Finals: 11 (5 Wins, 6 Losses)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Sep 2005	Germany F14, Kempten	Futures	Clay	Zeljko Krajan	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	2–0	Mar 2007	Portugal F1, Faro	Futures	Hard	Pierre-Ludovic Duclos	6–1, 6–1
Loss	2–1	Apr 2007	United Arab Emirates F1, Dubai	Futures	Hard	Aisam Qureshi	3–6, 3–6
Win	3–1	Apr 2007	United Arab Emirates F2, Dubai	Futures	Hard	Rameez Junaid	6–1, 6–2
Loss	3–2	Jan 2008	Portugal F2, Albufeira	Futures	Hard	Victor Ioniță	6–2, 6–7(1–7), 2–6
Win	4–2	Mar 2008	Wolfsburg, Germany	Challenger	Carpet	Farrukh Dustov	7–6(9–7), 4–6, 6–4
Loss	4–3	Feb 2009	Croatia F1, Zagreb	Futures	Hard	Martin Fischer	3–6, 3–6
Loss	4–4	Sep 2013	İzmir, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Mikhail Kukushkin	1–6, 4–6
Loss	4–5	Sep 2013	Greece F12, Athens	Futures	Hard	Nikola Milojevic	walkover
Win	5–5	Mar 2014	China F2, Guangzhou	Futures	Hard	Amir Weintraub	5–7, 7–5, 6–4
Loss	5–6	Aug 2014	Como, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Viktor Troicki	3–6, 2–6

Doubles Finals: 1 (1 Win, 0 Losses)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Aug 2005	Germany F10, Ingolstadt	Futures	Clay	Bastian Knittel	Dominik Meffert Sebastian Rieschick	walkover

Grand Slam Performance

This table shows how Louk Sorensen performed in the main draws of the four biggest tennis tournaments, called Grand Slams.

Singles