The days of big-name Israelis playing in the baking hot sun or in the late-night chill of Queens, NY, in front of flag-waving, cheering Israeli supporters, are a distant memory.
Originally appeared in The Jerusalem Post, August 21, 2025
For fans of Israeli tennis, there is good news and less good news.
First, the bad news: in this year’s US Open Tennis Championships, which get underway Sunday, August 24, and end on September 7 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, there will be fewer Israelis in any of the tournament’s draws than in any year in recent memory.
The days of big-name Israelis like Shahar Peer, Julia Glushko, Dudi Sela, Andy Ram, Yoni Erlich or Shlomo Glickstein, playing in the baking hot sun or in the late-night chill of Queens, NY, in front of flag-waving, cheering Israeli supporters, are a distant memory. And the years when juniors like Yshai Oliel, Lera Patiuk, Bar Botzer and Or Ram Harel put a smile on the faces of Jewish and Israeli fans and offered hope for the future of Israeli tennis also seem like ancient history.
Not all news coming out of this year’s Open is bad. Mika Buchnik, No. 1,136 in the world, who recently played in Wimbledon, is scheduled to play in the girls’ main draw. Guy Sasson, who won both the 2025 French Open and Wimbledon doubles titles in the wheelchair quads division, as well as the 2024 French Open singles title, will again represent Israel at the 2025 US Open. The proud Israeli brought pride to Israel and Jewish communities around the world at his Wimbledon trophy ceremony when he quoted a verse from that week’s Torah portion.
“The people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift themselves like a young lion.” He concluded his widely viewed remarks with “Am Yisrael Chai” (“The people of Israel live.”).
Sergei Lysov, 21, will be making his first appearance at this year’s US Open. He will be competing in the 2025 US Open Wheelchair Championships Men’s Division main draw.
While Buchnik, Sasson, and Lysov playing in the 2025 US Open is indeed good news for Israel, it is no cause for celebration. No Israelis competed in any of the weeklong qualifying tournaments preceding the US Open, where eight players who win three straight matches secure a spot in the main draw. In contrast, players from such countries as Andorra, Burundi, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein each had one player in the qualifying tournament. Israel’s neighbor to the north, Lebanon, had two players – Hady Habib and Benjamin Hassan – entered in the qualifying tournament.
Israelis may one day be back at the top of the tennis world?
Now the hopeful news. If Israel Tennis Association Chairperson Avi Peretz and former Israeli tennis great Yoni Erlich, Director of the High-Performance Program at Israel Tennis & Education Centers (ITEC), have their way, Israelis may one day be back at the top of the tennis world. They and lifelong fans of Israeli tennis know it is possible.
As examples, Dudi Sela, who directs the Dudi Sela Tennis Academy in Tel Aviv, and is currently in New York on business related to his academy, once reached an ATP singles ranking of 29th in the world (2009). Shahar Peer achieved the extraordinary accomplishment of reaching No. 11 in the world in 2011.
In a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post in Tel Aviv, Peretz, a charming former professional soccer player who has served as the chairperson for the Israel Tennis Association for the past five years, spoke candidly about both the challenges facing Israeli tennis and about plans already underway to boost tennis participation at all levels. Thankfully, the plan also includes once again bringing Israelis to the top of the tennis world.
“Israeli tennis is facing a revolution,” Peretz reports. “We have started doing things that we have never done in the history of the ITA. And the goal is to bring men and women to the top 100!”
Another factor hampering the growth of Israeli tennis is education in funding by the government.
“Tennis is not one of the 12 preferred sports,” said Peretz. “And we have not had a top ATP player or Olympian.” He notes that this is in contrast to such individual sports as judo, which have produced top performers. “As a result, we have to fundraise.”
Peretz playfully added: “The three things we need to be successful are dollars, shekels and euros!”
Erlich, who reached a career-high doubles ranking of No. 5 (in 2008), playing frequently with Israeli partner Andy Ram, is preparing to bring Israel’s Davis Cup Team to Canada for their upcoming matches. The (not-yet-confirmed) team consists of Daniel Cukierman, Amit Vales, Ofek Shimanov and Orel Kimhi.
In addition to serving as captain of the Davis Cup team, Erlich serves as tennis director for all of Israel Tennis and Education Centers (ITEC)’s programs.
Erlich reported that 2,500 children play tennis each week at 24 locations throughout Israel.
“We are focusing on the future – on making the next generation of players,” Erlich conceded. “It is a huge long-term project. It will take 10 years. We need to do much better.”
With Peretz and Erlich at the helm of their respective Israeli tennis organizations, perhaps attendees at the 2035 US Open will get to cheer for an Israeli male or female in the finals on Arthur Ashe Stadium.