Original Article Published On The JP

The friendly, hard-working staff of PKS were deluged with customers on Monday, the first day of the tournament at Flushing Meadows in Queens, NY.

Tennis players can survive a five set match on bananas and Gatorade. Tennis fans, on the other hand, have a hard time spending the entire day at the US Open without proper food. Thanks to PKS (Prime Kosher Sports), tennis fans who observe Jewish dietary laws, and those of any religion who simply enjoy a hot knish, baked pretzel, hot dog, Italian sausage with peppers, a turkey wrap, a BBQ brisket or hot pastrami sandwich can walk over to the kosher cart in the food court.

The friendly, hard-working staff of PKS were deluged with customers on Monday, the first day of the tournament at Flushing Meadows in Queens, NY.

“The line was to the berry place!” reports Shlomo, referring to another specialty food stand 20 feet away, Oak Berry Acai Bowls.  “We ran out of many items including water hours ago – and we haven’t been restocked.”  Workers reached to the sign above the booth and covered up items temporarily out of stock, including most sandwich items.

“We just got more frozen peppers and onions and are back grilling sausages!”

What is a knish?

A City Harvest truck delivers pallets of kosher food to Masbia of Boro Park as part of their annual Passover Food Drive, April 11, 2022. (credit: Masbia/City Harvest/JTA)

A tall blond man looked up at the menu and asked, “What is a knish?”

Shlomo immediately replied, “It is like a giant fat French fry.”

PKS is owned and managed by Michael Arje and David Rishity.  The pop-up kosher stand is under kosher supervision of the Kof-K  PKS also operates kosher stands at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets baseball team, and the Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils hockey team.  They also operate kosher restaurants in the Five Towns of Long Island and in New Jersey.

The owners stress that  “it’s all about quality and service” and want everyone “to enjoy tennis and kosher food.”

They add, “Everything is amazing!”

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Original Article Published on The JP

Serbian icon joins Thiem and other top-ranked tennis stars to travel to Israel in September for tournament.

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic made it official this week that he will travel to Israel to compete in the ATP 250 series Tel Aviv Watergen Open in September.

Djokovic, the former world No. 1 and 21-time Grand Slam winner, will take part in the tournament that will be held at the Tel Aviv Expo complex from September 25 to October 2.

The 35-year-old is widely considered among the best players of all time and holds multiple records, including holding the No. 1 ranking for the longest period (373 weeks) and the most number of seasons in which he finished the year as the world’s top player (seven times).

“We are happy and excited to host one of the greatest tennis players in history, Novak Djokovic, at the Tel Aviv Watergen Open 2022 tournament and look forward to enjoying his impressive playing skills here in Israel,” said Watergen President Michael Mirilashvili.

Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, from Austria, previously confirmed his intention to participate in Tel Aviv. Jewish-Argentine Diego Schwartzman and Croatian Marin Cilic are also planning on taking part.

The arrival of these stars comes during an already exciting September for tennis in Israel and the Watergen Open will take place two weeks after Israel hosts the Davis Cup tied versus the Czech Republic on September 16-17.

The Tel Aviv tournament returns to Israel after a 26-year hiatus.  That original tournament was inaugurated in 1978 and was held yearly until 1981, took a break in 1982 and was again played yearly from 1983 to 1996.  The tournament stopped happening due to loss of funding and explosion of tennis tournaments, but was set to resume in 2014 before being canceled due to security concerns surrounding the Gaza-Israel conflict.  American player Jimmy Connors won the event in 1989 when he beat Gilad Bloom in the final.  The tournament holds the record for having the youngest winner of an ATP event when Aaron Krickstein won the tournament at age 16 in 1983 at the age of 16.

The new tournament is back in Tel Aviv 26 years later thanks to an opening in the calendar caused by the cancellation through COVID-19 of the Zhuhai Championships ATP 250 event in China. Major funding by Watergen and its owner, entrepreneur Mirilashvili, brought the event to Tel Aviv.

Novak Djokovic: No stranger to Israel

Djokovic is no stranger to Israel, having visited in 2006 to receive treatment from physiotherapist Rafi Virshuvski.

He has visited on other occasions and was quoted as saying: “I played here with Serbia in the Davis cup, but we didn’t have time to travel. This time I did some traveling in my three days here, you have an incredible country.

“I got to know it a little bit now and discovered there is plenty more to see. I was in Jerusalem in all the holy places. It was an amazing experience. As a religious man, a Christian, I feel obligated to come here at least one more time to see and experience the fantastic holy land, to pray and see where Jesus was crucified, where he was, where he was buried.”

Thiem is also no stranger to Israel.  He played here at age 16 as a junior as well as in more recent years.  

“I’ve been to Eilat and Tel Aviv for Futures quite a lot of times,” the Austrian told The Jerusalem Post. “I really enjoy the country, especially Tel Aviv. It’s a very lively and nice city with great, great restaurants, great food, good lifestyle.  I’m really happy to be back there soon. Hopefully, it’s going to be a great tournament there.”

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The Original Article Published In The Jerusalem Post

Sela entered the qualifiers at the US Open thanks to his protective ranking. He came to New York hoping to advance past the first round of the qualifiers

When Israeli tennis icon Dudi Sela walked onto Court 4 for his first-round qualifying match at the US Open, he had the cool demeanor of someone meeting friends for dinner on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street.

Sela, 37, arrived five minutes before his opponent, 28-year-old Kaicha Uchida (ranked No. 169) of Japan. Jewish and Israeli fans sent regards from various common friends and wished him luck. Sela sat with a white towel over his head to block the sun on this bright New York day.

It was likely his last day ever playing on these hallowed courts.

Who is Dudi Sela?

Sela entered the qualifiers at the US Open thanks to his protective ranking. He came to New York hoping to advance past the first round of the qualifiers, a feat he failed to accomplish at this year’s other three Grand Slam events – the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon.

Sela suggested that retirement from playing was imminent when he announced to a group of Australian Jewish tennis fans: “I think it is going to be my last year. But for sure, I’m going to come back – as a coach or something else. And I just want to say a big thank you.”

Here’s what happened at the match:

Sela’s match opened with chants of “Dudi, Dudi” and “Yallah” (onwards). Uchida broke Sela in the first game. Still, 20 years of experience on the tour helped the Sela keep his younger opponent guessing and the Israeli went up 3-2.

Then, Uchida caught on. He began hitting Sela’s short balls down the line or cross court, often out of reach. Uchida closed out the first set 6-3 in 37 minutes.

Uchida continued to dominate the second set. He served to go up 3-0. At 5-2, when Uchida appeared ready to close out the match Sela broke Uchida without a point. Uchida easily closed out the second set 6-3 in 32 minutes.

The hour-and-nine-minute match may have taken less time than a Tel Aviv dinner with friends. But those in attendance stayed for some additional time with their beloved Sela. Many knew this was likely his last time playing at the US Open. Sela patiently signed autographs and took selfie photos with each fan who asked.

On the way to the locker room, he stopped for additional autographs, photos and conversation.

“Thank you for cheering for me” Sela told two girls posing for a photo.

Sela acknowledged, “It is my last time playing here.”

Brother Nir Sela added: “It is sad for me. I want him to keep playing!”

Sela conceded that physically it is difficult for him to compete at this stage and at this level.

 “After a few games I got very tired and had some problems with my hip. I enjoyed it.”

 Then, Sela shockingly offered, “But in Australia I can win the last one!”

Sela’s many fans around the world may just get that one last chance to see their hero play in a Grand Slam match after all.

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