Howard is working from his “US Open office” the next few weeks, covering tennis for the Jerusalem Post.
US Open Office
Plenty of Young Blue-and-White Talent – in Tennis
Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post
While US Open is missing Israeli players, local tennis up-and-comers grow their game, find their rhythm in lower-rung tournaments.
The dozen or so hard-core tennis fans who stopped by the Toto Tennis Center in Kfar Saba between August 1 and 7, or the Bnei Herzliya Tennis Club in nearby Herzliya the following week, were treated to a chance to see some of Israel’s best young tennis players in action – all free of charge. They may have even gotten a glimpse of Israeli tennis legend, Dudi Sela, quietly watching 21-year-old Sahar Simon in action at the M15 Kfar Saba Open.
Simon fought hard all week in the blazing August heat. He defeated Nitzan Riklis 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 in a second-round match that lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes. Simon eventually advanced to the finals, where he defeated fellow Israeli Ben Patael 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
The following week at the M15 Herzliya Open, Simon advanced to the quarterfinals before retiring with minor back issues while trailing Israeli Orel Kimhi 6-0, 2-0. Simon made a quick recovery and was in the main draw of the Aldershot, Great Britain, ITF World Team Tennis Tour. He lost in the first round to Filip Peliwo of Poland 6-3, 6-2.
Despite Simon’s successful past few months, he will not be playing in this year’s US Open in New York.
Simon, who trains with Sela at the Dudi Sela Tennis Academy in Tel Aviv, represents a crop of young talented Israelis who inhabit the lower rungs of the professional tennis world.
These young Israeli players range from No. 307 Yshai Oliel to No. 1,550 Yair Sarouk. They include such players as No. 425 Nicole Khirin, No. 435 Shavit Kimchi, No. 444 Daniel Cukierman, No.449 Ben Patael, and No.546 Edan Leshem.
Cukerman and Leshem have played on Israel’s Davis Cup team in past years.
While these players are better than millions of tennis players in the world, their current rankings – and the several hundred players ahead of them with even higher rankings – prevent them from competing in higher level tournaments with bigger payouts.
Fortunately, players have a mechanism to potentially advance and perhaps one day play in the US Open and other Grand Slams tennis events. Getting to that level requires perseverance, skill, luck and often the financial backing of parents and other angel investors.
Simon is currently ranked No. 651, an impressive jump from No. 803 one month ago. At the Kfar Saba Open, Simon and Sela spoke with The Jerusalem Post about such obstacles as lack of funding which makes it difficult for players to advance to the next level of professional tennis.
“This guy [Simon] pays for me, shoes and more,” noted Sela, indicating that his family supports his tennis career and that it is impossible for players who don’t have private funding.
Both laughed as they described how much it costs to enter the tournament (approximately 70 shekels) and how little the winner would take home.
“If you win Round 1, you have enough for hummus on pita,” Sela says, pointing to the nearby Hummus Eliyahu restaurant.
“If you win Round 2, you can have shwarma,” quipped Simon.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) Men’s World Tennis Tour is working to do its part to help players advance to higher level tournaments with greater prize money. But the process is a long one.
The ITF provides entry-level professional tennis tournaments and a pathway between the ITF Junior World Tennis Tour and the elite levels of men’s professional tennis. The results of ITF tournaments are incorporated into the ATP Ranking, which enables professionals to progress to the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Tour, and ultimately the Grand Slams. The Tour offers nearly 550 tournaments in 70 countries. They offer prizes at two levels – $15,000 and $25,000.
The August tournaments in Israel were considered “M15 tournaments,” meaning these “Futures” tournaments distribute $15,000 among all singles and doubles players. Futures tournaments are also where players can earn their first ATP points and get their names on the rankings. Each Futures tournament has 20 main draw spots and 48 qualifying spots. The acceptance list is based on ATP ranking points. These tournaments have a chair umpire, one line judge and players retrieving their own balls.
While the two tournaments were taking place in Kfar Saba and Herzliya, 15 similar M15s were taking place simultaneously in such places as Tbilisi, Georgia, Decatur, IL, Nottingham, England and Agadir, Morocco.
For the next three weeks, the tennis world turns its attention to the US Open Grand Slam tennis event in New York.
The qualifying tournament got under way on Tuesday, with 128 players vying for the 16 remaining spots in both the men’s and women’s singles draw. For tennis lovers on a tight budget, attending the US Open main draw (August 29-September 11 may prove to be challenging and costly. But the qualifying event taking place this week is a well-kept secret which allows fans to see top-level tennis for free.
As fans cheer on players with names like Nadal, Kyrgios, Williams and Osaka, and recall that last year’s winners, Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu, each took home $2,500,000, it is useful to remember the thousands of talented lower level players slugging it out at 15 futures and four Challenger tournaments taking place at the same time – in Thailand, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Poland, Korea, Brazil, Egypt, Tunisia, etc.
Perhaps next year, with perseverance, luck and additional funding, more Israel tennis players will find their way to the US Open.
Lina Glushko balances Israel’s US Open hopes on her racket
Original article published in the Jerusalem Post
Lina, 22, now ranked No. 215 in the world, is about to become the only Israeli female at the US Open Tennis Championships, taking place in New York from August 29-September 11.
The Williams family was blessed with two tennis-playing daughters – Venus and Serena. The Glushko family of Israel is similarly blessed with two tennis-playing daughters, Julia and Lina.
Like the Williams sisters, the Glushko sisters have teamed up from time to time to play doubles, including in 2015 for Israel’s nationals and in 2018 for the Fed Cup in Athens versus Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg and Denmark.
But that seems like ancient history for 22-year-old Lina Glushko. In 2018, when she played Fed Cup with her sister, Lina was a recent graduate of the Ironi Gimel high school in Modiin, she was serving in the IDF as a sports standout, and she was ranked No. 838 in the world.
In contrast, Julia was established in her professional tennis career, ranked No. 196 and playing in such Grand Slam tennis events as the US Open. Now, Julia is 3, retired from tennis and living and working in Tel Aviv.
Lina, 22, now ranked No. 215 in the world, is about to become the only Israeli female at the US Open Tennis Championships, taking place in New York from August 29-September 11.
Glushkos’ statements
“It is closure,” said Lina Glushko. “Julia is finished with her tennis career and focusing on other stuff. I am at the beginning!”
Glushko will see action Tuesday or Wednesday in the US Open Qualifying tournament. She will start with a match against 27-year-old German Tamara Korpatsch, who is ranked 139th. The 128 entrants will be battling for the remaining 16 spots in the main women’s draw of the US Open.
Julia Glushko is happy for her sister.
“I’m just so proud of her. To see her growing as a player and as a person is just so inspiring. She has a big game, huge serve and very good attitude and I really believe she can play at the top level.”
Lina has had a busy, confidence-building summer. She concedes that this came after a rough few months which started in January when she got “really sick” with COVID-19 and “had no time to practice.”
Glushko spoke this week to The Jerusalem Post in a phone interview from her hotel in New York City as she prepared for the US Open.
“I’ve been through a lot. But every time I was going through tough times, I kept believing and knew it would end.”
Glushko admits that she essentially deviated from the game plan set out by her beloved coaches and managers, which deemphasized focusing on earning points to qualify for major tournaments.
“I was playing 25s in Israel and was ranked No. 270 in May and June and was thinking, ‘I need to do more to get in [to the draw of such major tournaments as the US Open]. There was a lot of pressure.”
She noted that her team was saying “we don’t look at rankings and points. Do your best and work really hard and results will come.”
“I lost my way because I was thinking about points and the US Open – and started losing in tournaments in Israel in the first round!”
Glushko lost to Shavit Kimchi in the round-of-16 in a 25K tournament in Ra’anana in June, then lost the following week in another 25K tournament in Ra’anana – this time in the round-of-32 to Maria Timofeeva.
As the summer progressed, Glushko turned things around.
“I was ready to let it go and stopped thinking about the qualies or the US Open.”
One week after her disappointing Israel tournaments, Glushko was in Palma del Rio, Spain, where she reached the semifinals. She continued seeing results at tournaments in Europe, the US and Canada.
Glushko lost in the finals in Corroios-Seixal, Portugal and reached the round-of-32 in mid-July at a tournament in Guimaraes, Portugal. She lost in the second round of the qualifiers of the WTA International in Prague, Czech Republic. She retired in the round-of-32 at a Challenger tournament in Lexington, KY (USA) and lost in the qualifiers of the WTA Premier 5 tournament in Toronto in early August. She lost 6-4, 6-2 to world No. 85, Donna Vekic of Croatia. Throughout Glushko’s impressive summer, she earned important ranking points.
“I went back to my way,” reported Glushko, pleased that she got back on track as the summer progressed.
Glushko is pleased with her performance and appreciative of her team. The kind, soft-spoken Glushko praises her team, consisting of Ronen Morali, Ofer Fadida and Coach Maria João Koehler, for all of the financial and professional assistance they have offered and lined up. Morali serves as head coach and is Head of ITEC (Israel Tennis and Education Centers) Tennis Lovers Programs and serves as Israel’s Federation Cup coach.
Morali is excited about Glushko, her game and her overall attitude.
“She is very special – intelligent, talented and fun to be around!”
Fadida serves as a sponsor and member of Glushko’s management team. Support from two Israel companies and from the Israel Tennis Association has helped with the high costs associated with professional tennis
Now, Glushko is set to represent Israel at the US Open, though she noted proudly, “I have been representing Israel since I was 10!”
Lina was the only of the three Glushko children to be born in Israel. Her parents moved to Israel from Ukraine a year before she was born.
“Playing tennis is in the family,” said Gluskho, noting that both her parents were tennis coaches. “They put me on the tennis court at a very young age, like 3 or 4. Before that, I was on the court – picking up balls and just sitting on the court!”
Glushko is proud of being Israeli and she regularly posts about Israel on social media and has conversations with players on the tour about Israel.
“I love Israel and am proud to represent Israel. 99% of the time I feel support every time I post.”
But she is not afraid to engage detractors in open conversation. She recalls a time when she had an “intelligent conversation” with a man who asked about her thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asked about “occupation and killing children.”
For now, Glushko is just happy to be in New York, preparing for the US Open. As one of Israel’s only representatives in Flushing Meadows, she is likely to have the support of the many New York-area Israelis and Jews who are known for cheering on Israelis at the tournament.
“New York is my favorite city. It is really intense. I couldn’t live here but I just love it. It is a great atmosphere and has a vibe too.”
Athletes for Israel: Through sports and positive messaging, ‘we can change the narrative’
Original article published in the JNS
“The aim of the organization is not just to reach a Jewish audience. Our larger goal is to reach an audience of the hundreds of millions of people who haven’t made up their mind about Israel,” says group founder Daniel Posner.
Since its launch at the end of 2018, Athletes for Israel has regularly brought high-profile athletes and sports teams to the country to compete in athletic events and get to know the Jewish state.
After their trips, the group’s founder, Daniel Posner, says many of the athletes play an important role in telling the story of Israel’s people, history, food, technology and culture.
The Division 1 Auburn Tigers basketball team, which won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship last season, recently participated in a preseason tour, affectionately referred to as “Birthright for College Basketball.” The tour was arranged in large part by the team’s Jewish coach Bruce Pearl, one of the more pro-Israel coaches in the NCAA.
Pearl, affectionately known to Jewish fans as “Mordechai,” is the founder of the Jewish Coaches Association which hosts an annual breakfast for Jewish NCAA basketball coaches at March Madness. Pearl has been to Israel many times. He served as a coach for the USA Team in the 2009 Maccabiah Games. His Tigers basketball team made it to the NCAA Final Four in 2019.
The mostly non-Jewish team from Alabama played three games in Israel—against Israel’s Under 20 National Team on Aug. 2 in Jerusalem, Israel’s All-Star Select Team in Tel Aviv on Aug. 7, and Israel’s National Team on Aug. 8 in Tel Aviv. The Tigers won their first two games with a 119-56 win over the Israeli U-20 team, and a 107-71 win over the Israeli Select All-Star team. The Israeli National team was joined by Israeli Deni Avdija, the Washington Wizards small forward who was drafted No. 9 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Avdija scored 25 points as the Israel team defeated Auburn 95-86.
Pearl and Posner of Athletes for Israel agree that the outcome of the three games was only one small way to measure the success of the 10-day trip. Pearl reports, “We’re here to see this country, get closer to God, and by the way, we have three games—that’s how we look at it.”
The team visited Yad Vashem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Mount of Olives, and some players elected to be baptized in the Jordan River. “The guys were just soaking it in, walking where Jesus walked,” said Pearl. The team also took part in a high-tech seminar in Tel Aviv.
Posner, a longtime hedge-fund and private-equity manager in Manhattan, initially started the organization to help share Israel’s vibrant food scene, high-tech landscape and overall positive Israel vibes with friends and colleagues. “I go to Israel often, and each time when I’d return, colleagues would say, ‘I want to go to Israel. Take me!”
He recognized that they had heard many of the negative buzzwords associated with Israel, including “the separation wall” and “the Occupied Territories.” “It was nerve-wracking—so much in the press is about the political side of Israel. It is all we hear about. I said, ‘We have to change the narrative.” He then offers an analogy from closer to home: “If people only heard about politics in the United States, they would never come to the Rocky Mountains or to the National Parks. We need to talk about the wonderful things about Israel!”
Posner decided to start changing perceptions by bringing athletes to Israel, explaining that “we wanted to bring superstar athletes, across different sports. We had eight trips scheduled, including a trip including three MLB All-Stars, basketball and football players. Some high-profile athletes who have come to Israel already include Mariano Rivera, Ray Allen, Eddy Curry and Rick Barry.
Posner is particularly proud of the recent Auburn trip, saying “it was very special. ‘ESPN’ covered the games and did a wonderful job producing them.”
“We have also gotten a lot of interest from major college powerhouses,” he adds.
Posner notes that 20 to 30 boosters (supporters) came with the Auburn teams and can only imagine the potential if other major college teams come to Israel: “We will have hundreds of fans coming with them!”
The idea of sharing Israel with a diverse audience is very appealing to Posner. As he explains, “the aim of the organization is not just to reach a Jewish audience. Our larger goal is to reach an audience of the hundreds of millions of people who haven’t made up their mind about Israel.” And he is clear about the goals of the program, noting that “we don’t want to debate Israel; we just want to bring a positive message about Israel’s culture, food, people, the tech scene and more!”
‘Dispelling myths and fake news’
In addition to the Auburn visit arranged with the help of Athletes for Israel, a number of high-profile athletes and teams have also played in and toured Israel recently. Enes Kanter Freedom, who played for the NBA for 11 seasons, traveled all over Israel, praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque, visiting the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and touring the Machane Yehuda open-air market. He is opening a basketball camp for Muslims, Jews, Christian and Druze kids in the capital.
The Italian soccer team AS Roma and the English Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur, recently played a friendly pre-season exhibition game in Haifa. Before the game, Roma visited the Western Wall.
Two of the sports world’s biggest names—Lionel Messi and Neymar—were in Israel for a game between Paris Saint-Germain, or PSG. The game took place at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium. Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams has brought the high-profile French soccer season-opener, known as the Trophée des Champions, or the French Super Cup, to Israel for the second year in a row.
Prior to the match, PSG met with the Israeli nonprofit Save A Child’s Heart, a humanitarian group that performs cardiac operations on children worldwide. Messi and Neymar have each visited Israel previously. Messi visited Israel in 2019 with Argentina’s national team for an exhibition match against Uruguay, and he had visited Israel once before with his former club team, Barcelona.
Posner is proud of his organization while also acknowledging the work of other entities in bringing athletes to Israel. “Athletes for Israel,” notes Posner, “wants to do it in a more systematic way across different sports.” He is open to bringing athletes to Israel from sports as diverse as tennis and pickleball.”
David Wiseman, a co-founder of the 36,000-member Facebook group “Follow Team Israel,” explains that “the work Athletes for Israel does is so important for two reasons. First of all, it allows people here in Israel, especially kids, to be inspired by seeing world-class athletes in the flesh. But then, when these athletes go back to their homes, they’re going to tell everyone as well as their social-media followers what a wonderful experience they had in Israel. This isn’t to say the athletes are being coerced into saying something that isn’t true, rather they’re shattering myths and fake news that have taken hold vis a vis Israel.”
He also notes that they are “dispelling myths and fake news.”
Wiseman and his team at Follow Team Israel are devoted to sharing Israeli/Jewish sports with the world. He says “given these, we love to share the incredible work Athletes for Israel does so people know about it. It would be the biggest shame if the athletes came to Israel and went without anyone knowing about it.”
Posner and Athletes for Israel are steadfast in pursuing a fairly straightforward and simple approach: “Through positive messaging and experiences, we can change the narrative—that’s our goal.”