For most elite wheelchair athletes, the road to the Paralympics involves years of intense physical and mental preparation. For Israeli tennis player Adam Berdichevsky, the year leading up to the recent Paris Paralympics was also a year of fighting off terrorists and multiple relocations. Despite these extraordinary challenges, Berdichevsky proudly represents his country and serves as a role model for people with disabilities on and off the court. His efforts continue to pay off.
Berdichevsky, 40, picked up wheelchair tennis after losing his left leg in a 2007 boating accident in Thailand. Berdichevsky and his then girlfriend (now wife), Hila, encountered a fierce storm. Their vessel capsized, sending both in to the rough waters. While saving Hila, Berdichevsky was reportedly sucked in to the engine, resulting in the loss of his leg.
In the years following the ordeal, the two married, Berdichevky became a mechanical engineer, and the family soon included three children. The family made their home on Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak, the same collective community where Adam grew up. Life on the kibbutz was usually tranquil, though missile threats from Hamas were not uncommon given their proximity to Gaza. Usually, the sounding of an alarm meant a short stay in the family’s safe room until the imminent threat passed.
Adam Berdichevsky and family
This all changed on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched 4,300 rockets in to Israel and 6,000 Gazans breached the border into Israel in over 100 locations. On that day, 1,200 people were killed and approximately 250 were taken to Gaza as hostages. Israelis near the border hid and feared for their lives.
Adam and Hila Berdichevsky and their three children–ages six, eight, and ten- survived the Hamas invasion at Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak by remaining in a safe room and clutching the door handle for 14 hours to keep it shut. Once the imminent danger passed, the family then relocated to Eilat (in the south of Israel) for two months.
Berdichevsky’s friend and fellow Israeli wheelchair tennis player, Guy Sasson, had been living in Houston, Texas with his family at the time as part of his wife’s medical training. Sasson suggested that the Jewish community bring the Berdichevsky family to Houston during these difficult times. “We are so thankful to the Houston Jewish community who provided us with a home, a car and school for the children,” reports Berdichevsky. “We were very welcomed!”
Adam Berdichevsky and Guy Sasson | Photo Credit – Keren Isaacson
The family spent six months in Houston before returning to Eilat. Berdichevsky continues traveling around the world to tennis tournaments and the family is currently considering their next move, which may include returning to their adoptive community of Houston.
Berdichevsky shares, “I always loved tennis and also wanted to play a professional sport so the two naturally combined.” But he acknowledges that playing wheelchair tennis in light of recent events has presented some of the biggest mental challenges he has ever faced. “After learning that six hostages, including a former classmate, were murdered in the tunnels by Hamas, I had to compete in my Paralympic match—but it was incredibly difficult.”
This served to further motivate and inspire Berdichevsky as he played tennis for his beloved Israel in the Paris Paralympics this past September. “I cannot say how much fun it was to represent my country like this,” reports Berdichevsky after his first round wheelchair tennis win in Paris. “The win, it was the first time I played in front of a crowd like this, and it felt like I played at home – it was very special. I was very happy I could give some good times to people amid all the bad days.”
Earlier that same week, Berdichevsky served as the Israel delegations flag bearer. “The flag bearing was amazing, to walk with the whole Israel team was amazing – and everyone saw me on TV.” Berdichevsky lost his second-round match but he maintains his perspective given the ordeal he and his family survived on October 7th and the fate of so many others in his country. He observes, “It is much more important than ever to represent the country because of what happened and to be a model for all the soldiers who got injured.”
And his advice to young people with disabilities: “Play a sport, whatever it is. It would make your life much happier.”
The world’s top wheelchair athletes, including four Israelis—Adam Berdichevsky, Guy Sasson, Sergei Lysov, and Maayan Zikri—are competing fiercely at Stade Roland Garros.
CLOCKWISE FROM top left: Guy Sasson (Wheelchair Tennis), Adam Berdichevsky (Wheelchair Tennis and Flag Bearer), Maayan Zikri (Wheelchair Tennis), Sergei Lysov (Wheelchair Tennis) and Nadav Levi (Boccia).(photo credit: Meirav Cohen/Courtesy)
There will be no men’s and women’s wheelchair or quads tennis at this year’s US Open Tennis Championships—for a very good reason. The world’s best wheelchair tennis players are currently in Paris, France, competing for their countries at the Paralympics.
Every four years, the Paralympics wheelchair tournament conflicts with the US Open. (The juniors wheelchair tournament, however, will take place at the US Open at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, New York, as planned.
Four Israelis – Adam Berdichevsky, Guy Sasson, Sergei Lysov, and Maayan Zikri – are representing Israel in the wheelchair tennis event, which got under way on Friday, and runs through September 7 on the same courts at Stade Roland Garros, home of the French Open, where Sasson recently won the French Open quads title. The Israelis are off to a great start.
On Friday, Berdichevsky, 40, who took up wheelchair tennis after losing a leg in a 2007 boating accident, defeated Luca Arca of Italy 6-2, 7-5. This was Berdichevsky’s first singles victory at the Paralympics after debuting at Tokyo 2020.
“I cannot say how much fun it was to represent my country like this. The win, it was the first time I played in front of a crowd like this, and it felt like I played at home – it was very special. I was very happy I could give some good times to people amid all the bad days.”
Iyad Shalabi of Israel reacts after winning gold. (credit: REUTERS/MOLLY DARLINGTON)
Earlier in the week, Berdichevsky served as the Israeli delegation’s flag bearer. He was pleased with his victory and reported: “The flag bearing was amazing, to walk with the whole Israel team was amazing – and everyone saw me on TV.”
He will now face Chile’s Alexander Cataldo in round two.
Sergei Lysov
Also on Friday, Sergei Lysov, 20, who was diagnosed with Perthes’ disease at age 9 and immigrated to Israel from Russia in 2019, defeated Brayan Tapia of Chile 7-5, 6-1 in his Paralympic debut.
Lysov reached a career-high ranking of No. 17 earlier this month and advanced to the second round on Sunday against the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Alfie Hewett of Great Britain. Hewett, a 9-time Grand Slam singles and 3-time Roland Garros singles champion, is appearing in his third Paralympics and handily beat Lysov 6-0, 6-1.
On Saturday, Roland Garros quad singles champion and the tournament’s No. 3 seed, Guy Sasson, won his first-round match against Francisco Cayulef of Chile 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals and then on Monday beat Gregory Slade from Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 to roll into the semifinals.
“Playing for the first time in a great stadium like that, with so many fans who came to watch us… it was a great atmosphere and a unique feeling,” said Sasson. “I had a lot of fun playing this match. Two months ago when I was here, and I was able to win Roland Garros, that gave me a lot of confidence. I love the clay here and the atmosphere. I knew that it would be a good step towards the Paralympics and here we are.”
Maayan Zikri, the only female on the Israeli team, defeated Najwa Awane of Morocco 6-3, 6-2 in her first-round match.
This is the ninth year that wheelchair tennis will be featured at the Summer Paralympic Games. The sport made its debut as a full-medal event at Barcelona 1992. The sport had previously been a demonstration event at Seoul 1988, when a men’s singles and women’s singles tournament was held. The men’s and women’s singles events have been played at every Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event since 1992, while the quad singles and doubles events have been contested since Athens 2004.
The tournament features 95 players from 28 nations. Singles matches are played as best-of-three tie-break sets, while doubles matches are played as best-of-three tie-break sets with a match tie-break as the final set. The Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event is taking place on outdoor clay courts for the second time, after being played on clay at Barcelona 1992. Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen at Stade Roland Garros both have a retractable roof, which can be closed in case of inclement weather.
Boaz Kramer, Executive Director of Israel ParaSport Center, who won the silver medal in mixed doubles quads at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, is proud of the four tennis players as well as Nadav Levi, a boccia player, who are part of their center in Ramat Gan.
“To have four wheelchair tennis players from the Israel ParaSport Center in the Paralympic Games is a dream come true. To make this dream a reality, the Israel ParaSport Center has worked for almost a decade, investing in the development of a very special and unique tennis program that honors the long legacy of wheelchair tennis excellence at our center in Ramat Gan. To see Adam, who survived October 7 with his family, as flag bearer in the) opening ceremony was an emotional moment for all of us.”
Three of the four Paralympic tennis players spoke with The Jerusalem Post from Paris as they prepared for the start of the Paralympics.
Lysov, from Russia, continues to improve his Hebrew and English speaking abilities and was unavailable for comment.
Zikri, 21, of Holon, openly and comfortably shared the story of how she lost her right foot in a water ride at an amusement park in Holland at age 10 while on a family trip celebrating her sister’s bat mitzvah. After several surgeries and rehabilitation, she took up para sports.
“Two wheelchair basketball coaches told me about basketball, spoke with my mom, and asked if I wanted to try it.”
Maayan was hesitant but trusted her mom.
“I tried it and liked it!” she exclaimed.
Zikri played competitive basketball on a boys’ basketball team for five years.
“I love the international environment,” she recounts, and was disappointed when she was no longer allowed to play on a boys’ team—and there were not enough girls to field a girls’ team. “The wheelchair basketball coach in Israel was a tennis player when he was younger and knew that I liked to travel and to compete and asked me if I wanted to try.”
Zikri traveled to Beit HaLochem in Beersheba to try tennis and was hooked. For a while, she played both sports but soon dropped basketball to focus on tennis and avoid injuries.
“Tennis is my love for now. I miss basketball but I don’t regret it.”
Zikri has quickly moved up the ranks in the tennis world since picking up a racket for the first time at age 15. She reached a No. 3 ranking in the world for juniors in 2021.
In 2022, she won her first title at the Hungarian Open Wheelchair Tennis Championship. Since then, Zikri has claimed titles in Switzerland, England, and Romania. Her most recent victory was a first-place finish at the X Open Bai De Setúbal in July 2023.
Zikri is proud to represent Israel at the Paralympics.
“It means pride, joy, happiness, and excitement. I am so proud to represent the country that I love, our nation.”
Berdichevsky accommodated an interview just before taking part in the flag-bearing ceremony.
“For me, to represent Israel, to carry the flag, and to be a representative of my country and people is really amazing. It makes me happy and proud.” He is pleased to qualify for the Paralympics again in what he describes as a “really packed year, and despite what is happening.”
Berdichevsky shared the harrowing October 7 story of survival, where his family, including his wife and three children ages six, eight, and 10, survived the Hamas invasion at Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak in a safe room for 14 hours. The family then relocated to Eilat for two months.
Fellow tennis team member Sasson, who has been living in Houston, Texas, with his family as part of his wife’s medical training, suggested that the Jewish community consider bringing the Berdichevsky family as well. Berdichevsky noted with great appreciation that his family spent six months in Houston before returning to Eilat. They are currently considering their next move, which may include returning to Houston.
“We are so thankful to the Houston Jewish community who provided us with a home, a car, and school for the children. We were very welcomed!”
While Berdichevsky felt proud to represent Israel in the 2020 Tokyo Games, he feels it is “much more important than ever to represent the country because of what happened and to be a model for all the soldiers who got injured.”
He playfully said that his strategy for this year’s Paralympics is “to win the first point and go on to the next point!”
Sasson, who spoke with the Post at last year’s US Open, again spoke from Paris prior to the start of the Paralympics. He reflected that returning to the clay courts of Roland Garros was “familiar” as he recently competed there.
Competing in the Paralympics is also familiar, though he said, “last time I competed in the other division (known as ‘wheelchairs’). Now I am in the quads” (for players with more substantial loss of function). Sasson feels there has been “a lot of expectation and it motivates me to do well here.
“I feel good and well-prepared. Hopefully, I will perform the way I want to perform.”
Like his teammates, Sasson feels there is something unique about playing for Israel now
“The whole team is very excited to represent Israel, especially in these times. It is much more than tennis. You represent Israel, and there is a lot of meaning behind it. You can feel this is very important to all of the athletes who want to do well and make people happy.”
According to Roni Bolotin, former Paralympic swimmer and head of the Israeli delegation, 27 athletes are competing in 10 events, including the team sport of goalball. Bolotin reports that he became disabled and an amputee who also suffered serious eye damage almost 50 years ago in 1968 in a minefield explosion in the Sinai while serving in the IDF. While this is his 12th Paralympics, he exclaimed that “it is still the same excitement!”
Bolotin explained why this year has important significance.
“This year, these are really special circumstances, and everybody understands the unique role and responsibility of the athletes in these special times for Israel. We understand that we really need to do our best and that our athletes serve as role models for the newly disabled who did their service in Gaza and in the north.”
“Sport can be the best tool for rehabilitation and for a full and rewarding life. Our staff is already in the rehab centers to show that sports is a way to have the best life in this situation!”
Bolotin is proud of the tennis team playing for Israel in Paris.
“They are a combination of two veteran experienced players and two new young ones. The future is before them! They are a great combination!”
Some wheelchair tennis players participating in the Paralympics will receive compensation from the US Open, despite not actually attending. According to the USTA (United States Tennis Association), it gave “players that would have been entered into the US Open via direct acceptance with a player grant to ensure that these players are receiving the equivalent of prize money as compensation.” They detail that a total of $6,244,000 has been set aside for wheelchair tennis grants, player per diems, and hotel payments. Total main draw and qualifying payments for the US Open is $75,000,000.
“The Jewish community was a huge support—with Israeli flags (some bearing the slogan ‘Bring the Hostages Back’).”
When Israeli wheelchair tennis player Guy Sasson boarded a plane from Houston to Israel on Oct. 7, he had no way of knowing what the next three months would have in store for himself or for his homeland.
Sasson was set to change planes in Istanbul but the flight to Israel was canceled and he was sent back to Houston, where he and his family are currently residing for his wife’s specialist medical training.
He has spent these last few months deeply immersed in three worlds that are dear to him—tennis, Israel and family. Sasson, the #33 ranked tennis player in the world for singles in the quads wheelchair division, made it to the finals in both singles and doubles of the recent Australian Open Grand Slam. He was one of two Israelis representing Israel at the Australian Open (Mika Buchnik lost in the second round of the junior girls’ tournament).
Sasson, the owner of IsraMich (real estate) investments in Israel, is a very actively involved parent and with his wife helps manage the complex lives of four children. In addition, he helped arrange for fellow top Israeli wheelchair tennis player Adam Berdichevsky and his family from an Israeli community near the Gaza Strip to relocate temporarily to Houston.
Unlike many tennis players, Sasson never intended to play tennis professionally. He grew up non-disabled in Ramat Gan, served in the Israel Defense Forces, attended the University of Michigan, married Aya Mohr (now Dr. Aya Mohr-Sasson) and started several businesses. He became a wheelchair user in 2015 after falling off a cliff while snowboarding in France.
Sasson has come a long way since this harrowing ordeal, when after his accident his future was uncertain at best. He recounts: “They flew me to Tel Hashomer Hospital in Israel, I had major surgery on my spine and hand, and the doctors told me I won’t walk again. It turns out, I was in a rehab hospital at Tel Hashomer for one year and did walk out—with braces and canes.
He was keen to keep active and contacted the Israel ParaSport Center in Ramat Gan. After seeing the tennis facilities and learning that Ofri Lankri, a professional tennis player who played on Israel’s 2014 Fed Cup team, would be serving as coach, Sasson, who played tennis when he was a child, became interested. He started slowly and without sharing the news with others. “At first, I didn’t tell anyone—not even my wife.”
Sasson progressed quickly, began competing professionally, and represented Israel in the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2021. He was recently reclassified from the open to the quads wheelchair division due to some changes in his upper body functioning. He competed in this summer’s U.S. Open in New York where he was ranked #7 and reached the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles.
Jennifer Flink, national executive director of the Israel ParaSport Center, U.S., watched Sasson at the U.S. Open this summer and says, “Watching Guy Sasson play tennis at one of the largest events in the world was exhilarating.” She recognizes the important work she and her colleagues have in store given the numbers of newly wounded and disabled from the current war.
“At Israel ParaSport, sport is more than just a game. It empowers children and adults living with physical disabilities to succeed in all aspects of life. Not all become champions, but all become champions in life. And if the result is a world-class wheelchair tennis player like Guy, then that is the icing on the cake,” Flink notes.
Guy Sasson plays Sam Schroder (not seen) of the Netherlands at the Australian Open, Jan. 27, 2024. Photo by Josh Chadwick/Tennis Australia.
Kicked off in Australia
Sasson says that the current professional tennis season, which kicked off in Australia, got off to a great start. He won the Victorian Wheelchair Open for singles (Jan. 8-12), he won the doubles of the Melbourne Wheelchair Open (Jan 14-19) and he reached the finals in the Australian Open for both singles and doubles (Jan. 23-27).
He admits that he was a bit worried about how he would hold up away from home for so long. “I am usually gone for no more than 10 or 11 days. It is hard to be away from family and it is physically and mentally hard.”
His hard work, coupled with support from many Jewish and Israeli fans, contributed to his success in Australia. “They supported me at all Grand Slam matches and even at all of my practices. They came in the hundreds and there were 1,000 people from the Jewish community at the finals! They were a huge support—with Israeli flags (some bearing the slogan ‘Bring the Hostages Back’) and shouting in Hebrew.”
Sasson was impressed that his playing in the tournament seemed to provide a forum for the Jewish community to come together in support of Israel. “This sports event was an occasion for a big coming together—even for people who were not tennis fans! That is the power of sports!
“The players were really surprised at the number of people who came out from the Jewish community to support a wheelchair tennis player.” [At the U.S. Open, only a handful of fans came to watch any of the wheelchair tennis matches.]
Sasson has not experienced any anti-Israel sentiment on the tennis tour. “I haven’t heard any negative comments about being Israeli or displaying ‘Bring Back the Hostages’ slogans.
Houston, Texas
Both during his world travels and at home in Houston, he remains very connected to events in Israel. Most of his family members live in Israel, and Sasson’s brother spent two months in the IDF reserves in Gaza.
Sasson worked hard to help bring his close friend and fellow Israel wheelchair tennis player Adam Berdichevsky to Houston. Berdichevsky is a member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, one of the communities near Gaza, which was assaulted by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Six members of the kibbutz and an IDF soldier were killed and eight hostages were taken captive on the day of the attack.
Berdichevsky, his wife and three young children spent many hours in a safe room and survived. Sasson and Israel Sports Center helped get the family to Houston where they live in an apartment near the Sassons.
“The Jewish community hugged them. They have welcomed them and want to hear their stories. They have invited them for Shabbat dinner, helped raise money for a car and place to stay and helped the kids with school,” reports Sasson, who regularly practices with Berdichevsky at the Houston JCC’s outdoor and indoor tennis courts.
The Sassons appreciate the love and support they have received from the Houston Jewish community, where they are spending several years during Mohr-Sasson’s gynecology fellowship program at the University of Texas Health Center in Houston. Their children—ages 5, 8, 11 and 13—are settled in at school.
Sasson wakes at 3 each morning to work with his real-estate team in Israel. He also follows a strict training regimen, which seems to be paying off, and continues to seek sponsors to support his worldwide tennis travels. He hopes to play in upcoming tournaments in the U.S., South Korea and Japan.
But this all depends on family matters being in order. He notes sadly, “Our au pair just quit!”
