Published Articles

Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

NEW YORK – Three weeks of US Open tennis – from the qualifiers and the finals – drew to a close Sunday evening in New York City. Even with the absence of big names like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Serena Williams, the tournament generated a great deal of excitement.

Four American women met in the semifinals for the first time since 1981, when names Austin, Navratilova and Evert graced the hallowed grounds of Flushing Meadows. Juan Martin del Potro knocked out Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, making a much anticipated, first-ever Nadal/Federer US Open meeting impossible. And the success of Denis Shapovalov reminds us there are many up-and-coming young players to watch.

As players from around the world return home for rest, family time, additional training and the Davis Cup, it is a good time to reflect on the state of Israel tennis.

As always, Dudi Sela was a crowd pleaser, always willing to sign one more autograph or pose for a selfie, even after a disappointing loss. And Yshai Oliel proudly represented Israel in juniors singles and doubles, though the 17-year-old, highly seeded in both, was knocked out earlier than expected.

Overall it was a very poor turnout for Israeli tennis players at this year’s US Open.

In past years, cheering Israeli and Jewish fans might have caught a glimpse of Shahar Pe’er, Julia Glushko, Jonathan Erlich, Amir Weintraub, Andy Ram (long retired) and such rising juniors as Shelly Krolitzky, Or Ram-Harel, Bar Botzer and Valeria Patiuk. In 2011, lucky fans even got to see top blue-and-white wheelchair tennis player Noam Gershony in action.

I long for those days. More than a few fans at Sela and Oliel singles and doubles matches saw my media credentials for The Jerusalem Post and wondered “Where are the Israelis?”

This year, Glushko and Erlich did not rank high enough to qualify. Krolitzky seems to be focusing on rising from the lower echelons professional tennis; during the US Open she played in pro tournaments in Ricany, Czech Republic and in Antalya, Turkey. And most of the Israeli juniors who once competed at the US Open have been lured away from Israel and are playing for American college tennis teams: Patiuk at Michigan, Botzer at Wake Forest and Ram-Harel at University of Tulsa.

Sadly, Israel provided the same number of males in the men’s singles draw (one!) as Barbados, Cyprus, Korea, Moldova and Tunisia. Even Paraguay had one woman in the draw; China and Croatia each had five.

When will fans of Israel tennis have something to cheer about?

That is a tough question to answer, though Israel Tennis Centers serve over 20,000 Israeli children every year and even offers a high performance program. And the David Squad, which boasts that it is “building the future of elite Israeli tennis” though its massive support of Oliel and others, only managed to produce one player at this year’s US Open

Hopefully, the upcoming September 15-17 Davis Cup tie will give fans of Israel tennis something to cheer about. Look for young hopefuls like Edan Leshem, 21, and Mor Bulis 20, as they play with more established teammates Sela and Erlich as the blue-and-white battles Ukraine in the first round of the Group I Europe/ Africa Relegation Play-Offs.

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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

“In this kind of match and with this type of opponent, confidence was tough.”

NEW YORK – Diego Schwartzman’s magical run at the US Open came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when he encountered Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals during the day session at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Carreno Busta defeated Schwartzman in two hours 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in their first-ever meeting.

Even the soccer chants of the Argentinian fans, which had lifted fellow countrymen Juan Martin del Potro to victory on Monday from two sets down, did not help Schwartzman, who proved unable to convert on multiple break-point opportunities, winning only two of ten. Carreno Busta won six of eight break points and kept Schwartzman back at the baseline throughout the match.

“In this kind of match and with this type of opponent, confidence was tough,” said Schwartzman, who was very encouraged by his overall performance in New York. “I am really happy to play there in the Arthur Ashe and in the Grandstand and many courts here in the tournament. The crowd this year was amazing. Many Argentinians, many people from here. It was really good.”

Carreno Busta will next face either American Sam Querrey or big-serving Kevin Anderson of South Africa, who played their quarterfinal later on Tuesday.

Israel’s Oliel advances in junior doubles Take four hard hitting junior boys from Brazil, Russia and Israel. Put them on a fast, hard court surface on a sunny Labor Day afternoon in New York. Add hard serves and ground strokes, precision volleys, offensive and defensive lobs, occasional drop shots, and extraordinary athleticism.

It is anybody’s game. Israel’s Yshai Oliel and Alexey Zakharov, the No. 7 seeds, came out on top, narrowly outplaying the Brazilian duo of Igor Gimenez and Matheus Pucinelle De Almeida 6-4, 7-5 in just over an hour on Monday night.

In the first set, teams held serve for the first four games before exchanging breaks.

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The Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Schwartzman is loving the New York crowd, which has cheered for him throughout his matches so far.

NEW YORK – Diego Schwartzman is having the time of his life in the Big Apple. He hasn’t been to a Broadway show or a Yankees game, but he has twice been to the Grandstand at the US Open and stunned two of the tournament’s top players over the weekend.

Schwartzman – the 25-year-old Jewish Argentine – defeated No. 5 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday and returned to the same court on Sunday to knock out No. 16 Lucas Pouille of France 7-6(3), 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in his first career Grand Slam fourth round match.

Schwartzman advances to the quarterfinals and faces Pablo Carrreno Busta of Spain, who defeated Israeli-born Canadian Denis Shapovalov in straight sets earlier in the day on Sunday.

Schwartzman played catch up in the first two sets. He overcame a 3-1 deficit in the first set, tying at 3-3, never ahead until taking the tie-breaker 7-3.

In the second set, Schwartzman was down 4-2, then fought back to win three straight games and closing out the set 7-5.

After dropping the third set, Schwartzman closed out the fourth set in a quick 30 minutes.

Schwartzman is loving the New York crowd, which has cheered for him throughout his matches so far.

“They are helping a lot in the matches. When it’s a tough moment in the match, they are making noise with me, just to be with me in the match. I am really happy for that and thank everyone for doing that.”

Schwartzman is looking forward to playing his first Grand Slam quarterfinal against Busta in Arthur Ashe stadium.

The winner of their match will play in the semifinals against either Sam Querrey or Kevin Anderson.

Meanwhile, in the juniors tournament, Israel’s Yshai Oliel cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 first-round victory over American wild-card Ryan Goetz.

“I was happy with how I played and hope to continue like that,” said Oliel, who is seeded sixth at the event.

The 17-year-old lefty from Ramle is currently ranked No. 11 in the world for juniors and No. 890 for men.

“I was a little tight in the beginning of the match,” said Oliel to The Jerusalem Post. “I started feeling better and better every game.”

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The Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

“The Jerusalem Post” spoke to tennis star Madison Brengle about her first round of the US Open and religion.

NEW YORK – With Shahar Peer’s retirement in February after reaching a career high No. 11 tennis ranking in 2011 and Julia Glushko’s fall from a high of 79 in 2014 to her current slot at 252, Jewish tennis fans are left to wonder just how many women occupy the top 100.

American Madison Brengle No. 81 spoke to The Jerusalem Post about her 6-2, 6-3 loss to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the first round of the US Open, and about religion. Asked about being the only Jew in the top 100, she quickly interrupted.

“Isn’t Giorgi? She is in the top 100? There is a Jewish reporter who hunts down me and Camila [Italian Camila Giorgi No. 69], so I just assumed…”

Other top 100 players with unconfirmed Jewish roots include Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (4) and Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland (28).

Brengle, born and raised in Dover, Delaware notes that her mother is Jewish and her father is not.

“My brother and I feel like we kind of double dipped – we just did a bit of everything – we called it double dipping.”

While she and her brother “went to a little bit of religious school,” travel and tournaments got in the way of celebrating bat mitzva. Brengle reports, “We do Hanukka, but we are super casual.”

Brengle has not yet been to Israel, though she is good friends with Julia Glushko. We have been friends since age 10. We have known each other forever. She is really cool.”

Perhaps Brengle can help her good friend climb back in to the Jewish Top-100 club.

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