Israel

Original Article Published On the JP

Karatsev, who is certainly no stranger to Israel, spoke to The Jerusalem Post after playing in both the singles and doubles draws at the recent US Open.

Aslan Karatsev may be the best Israeli tennis player to come along in years. But the accomplished 29-year-old right-hander, who was a semifinalist in the 2021 Australian Open and is ranked number 39 in the world after reaching a career-high of number 14 earlier this year, is not likely to ever represent Israel at the Davis Cup or the Olympics.

Karatsev was born in Vladikavkaz, Russia, and made aliyah with his family at the age of three, grew up in Israel, and returned to Russia with his family when he was 12 after it seemed likely he would not receive the support necessary to get him to the top of the tennis world.

The fluent Hebrew speaker still has family and friends in Israel and hopes to spend some time with them – perhaps even over Rosh Hashanah – when he returns to Israel to play in the ATP 250 series Tel Aviv Watergen Open, to be held from September 25 to October 2 in Tel Aviv.

Karatsev spoke to The Jerusalem Post after returning to his home in Moscow after playing in both the singles and doubles draws at the recent US Open. He will soon be off to Metz, France, for another ATP 250 event before heading to Israel.

Karatsev is certainly no stranger to Israel.

“This is the place where I spent half of my life, a bit less,” Karatsev noted. “Israel is a warm place. I feel good to always come back to Israel…I grew up there and to play a big event in front of the crowds is something nice. I know many people and have many friends in Israel. So I think playing in the tournament will be special for me.”

“I feel good to always come back to Israel…playing in the tournament will be special for me”Aslan Karatsev

Karatsev was in Israel for a few days in August and hopes to return more frequently.

Aslan Karatsev in action during his quarter final match against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov (credit: JAIMI JOY/REUTERS)

Several years ago, Karatsev had considered returning to Israel to play tennis.

“There was a conversation four or five years ago. We didn’t find the right solution for both sides. So I said ‘if you cannot offer anything more, I’ll stay where I am right now.’”

Aslan Karatsev’s tennis career, so far

Karatsev has experienced tremendous growth and success in singles, doubles and mixed doubles in the past few years. He played in his first ATP Tour main-draw debut at the 2013 St. Petersburg Open, where he received entry to the main draw as a wildcard. In 2015, he won his first main-draw match on the ATP Tour at the Kremlin Cup. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal for Russia in mixed doubles with Elena Vesnina.

In March 2021, he won his first ATP doubles title with Andrey Rublev at the Qatar Open. One week later, he won his first singles title. Though he entered the tournament as a wildcard, he defeated South African Lloyd Harris in the finals of the Dubai Open.

One month later, Karatsev defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in his native country at the Serbia Open. Karatsev reached the finals of that tournament.

At the October 2021 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Karatsev reached the fourth round. Later in the month, Karatsev captured his second career title by defeating Marin Cilic in the finals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The year 2022 has been a busy and productive one for Karatsev as well. In January 2022, he defeated Andy Murray, in the 2022 Sydney Tennis Classic final, to win his third title.

In early August, Karatsev competed in the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati where he lost to fellow top-ranked Jewish player, Diego Schwarzman, for the first time. Karatsev had beaten Schwartzman in their two previous meetings – in the 2021 Australian Open and again at the 2021 ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid.

At the US Open two weeks ago, Karatsev lost in a three-and-a-half-hour first-round singles heartbreaker. He had been leading two sets to none against Fabio Fognini, before ultimately losing 1-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

In doubles, Karatsev and partner Luke Saville advanced to the second round before losing to tournament winners, No. 1-seeded Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. To date, Karatsev has earned a total of $3,277,753 in prize money for his singles and doubles efforts.

Looking ahead to the Tel Aviv Open

Karatsev hopes to increase his earnings in Tel Aviv, though the competition will be fierce. The ATP event offers $1,117,930 in prize money and features some of the world’s top tennis players including Novak Djokovic, a winner of 21 Grand Slam tournaments in singles, former world No. 3 Dominik Thiem from Austria, winner of the 2020 US Open, Cilic and Schwartzman. Other players include Karen Khachanov, Botic van de Zandschulp and Arthur Rinderknech from France.

“We are delighted that the tournament lineup turned out to be very strong,” said Michael Mirilashvili, Watergen CEO and president of the Tel Aviv Watergen Open. “A special thank you to the Israel Tennis Association for the help they provided and their participation in the organization of this event so meaningful for the whole Israel. I hope we will watch some bright tennis which both the players and the crowd will enjoy. Thanks to the TV broadcast, tennis fans in 134 countries will watch the tournament Tel Aviv Watergen throughout the whole week.”

Alison Lee, Executive Vice-President of ATP’s International Group also commented on the event.

“We’re excited to see the ATP Tour return to Tel Aviv this year. Introducing single-year tournaments to the calendar has been an opportunity for ATP to take tennis to new markets, and it’s incredibly encouraging to have great cities like Tel Aviv step up to host an event. This shows strong interest in tennis internationally and validates the agile approach we’ve taken. We would like to thank the organizers for making this return possible and building on the city’s rich tennis history. The event will play an important role in delivering an exciting second half of the season for our fans.”

Karatsev looks forward to doing his part in the tournament. He is also looking forward to spending time with family members as well as with his good friend, Israeli tennis icon, Jonathan Erlich.

“He is going to retire soon. I have been lucky to learn from a legend.”

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Original Article Published On The JP

The US Open Junior competition draws less attention than the seniors but provides a look into the future of tennis.

Tennis fans and those who just love a good sports story have been focused on the US Open.

Amid all of the deserved excitement for the pro players, juniors are often overlooked. At the US Open, crowds are always small for junior matches – sometimes attracting only 25-50 fans.

At Sunday’s first-round match, for example, 15-year-old Valerie Glozman from Bellevue, Washington, beat Yaroslava Bartashevic of France 7-5, 6-3. The American teenager has been in New York – without her parents – for two weeks as she received a wildcard in the women’s qualifying draw as a result of her good showing as runner-up at the national juniors tournament. In the ensuing round, Glozman got off to a promising start against the No. 1 seed, Sofia Costlulas of Belgium, before losing 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

“I never expected to be here, Being here was the biggest thing. I am excited to play. My strategy was to mix it up and break her rhythm.”

Valerie Glozman

“I never expected to be here,” said Glozman. “Being here was the biggest thing. I am excited to play. My strategy was to mix it up and break her rhythm.”

Glozman, the daughter of a Ukrainian Jewish father and a Taiwanese mother, regularly trains with hard-hitting male players in Washington due to the lack of available female partners.

Tennis (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Starting at an early age

Some fans (and writers) even find advantages to start following players when they are juniors.

“For me, the big advantage is that very few people pay any attention to juniors, so they are so happy when you cover them and you get to know them,” noted Sandra Harwitt, an experienced tennis writer covering the US Open this year for the Miami Herald.

“They always remember you,” added Harwitt, who has been in touch with Andy Roddick, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Sasha Zverev since they were juniors. The author of The Greatest Jewish Tennis Players of All, Harwitt is keenly aware of the fact that few successful juniors will rise to the ranks of the professional world. She notes, however, that some will “play their entire career in the Futures and Challengers [second and third tier] league.”

Matt Durno of Sharon, MA, was part of the small group watching the Glozman match.

“I am a player and new at it – it is fun to see the level you can achieve in a short time.”

Durno enjoyed watching Glozman and looked forward to sharing his observations with his tennis-playing children.

Other juniors to watch in this year’s tournament include boys No. 1 seed Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay, and Sofia Costoulas of Belgium, the girls’ top seed. Vallejo reached the boys’ doubles final at the 2022 Australian Open alongside partner Alex Michelsen of the United States, while Costoulas reached the girls’ singles final at the same Grand Slam. Both have reached career-highs of world No. 2 in their respective junior rankings.

Where are the Israelis?

There are junior boys and girls to watch from dozens of countries in the world – however, notably not from Israel. But, according to Eyal Taoz, director of Strategy and Projects at Israel Tennis and Education Centers, the wait may soon be over.

In past years, Israeli boys and girls have qualified to play at the US Open. Fans may recall such names as Leria Patiuk, Or Ram Harel, Bar Botzer and Yshai Oliel. But it has been quite a few years since they have been here.

“No one made it this year, but we have juniors ranked around 200 in the world or so, They are making nice progress and getting results.”

Eyal Taoz, director of Strategy and Projects at Israel Tennis and Education Centers

“No one made it this year, but we have juniors ranked around 200 in the world or so,” reported Taoz. “They are making nice progress and getting results.”

Taoz has eyes on such up-and-coming players including Ron Ellouck, Ofek Simanov, Volvo Basilevsky, Mika Buchnik and Karin Altori.

“Hopefully in the next three or four months, some will play in the Grand Slams.”

Some of these players will automatically move up 40 or 50 ranking points when the current 18-year-olds “age out” and are no longer able to play as juniors.

Ellouck, currently No. 1,239 in the world, played in the Wimbledon qualifiers but lost in the first round. He will turn 18 in November and no longer be eligible to play in the juniors.

Simanov, 17, is currently ranked 356 after reaching a career high of No. 272.

Buchnik may be the Israeli with the best shot at qualifying for a major tournament. The 15-year-old female phenom is ranked No. 143. She has been playing tennis since age four and the Tel Aviv native’s impressive accomplishments include a second-place finish in the 2021 U14 World Championship in France and the 2021 U14 Israeli Champion

Altori is a 16-year-old girl with unique family background and great potential. She is currently ranked No. 225 after reaching a high of No. 187. The Bedouin Israeli grew up in Rahat in the south and was inspired by her older brothers, Shadi and Samer, to pick up a racket, which she did at age five. Her family recently moved to Ramat Hasharon so they could train at the Israel Tennis Center there.

With or without Israelis in the US Open this year, the final week promises to be exciting.

And Israeli fans who still want to see more can attend or follow the Israel vs Czech Republic Davis Cup World Group I first-round matches in Tel Aviv on September 16-17, as well as the ATP 250 series Watergen Tel Aviv Open between September 25 and October 2.

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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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Original Article Published On The JNS

The Washington Wizards player says he’d like to continue being a goodwill ambassador for Israel and Judaism, much like his friend and mentor Omri Casspi did during his 10 years in the NBA.

Deni Avdija took one look at all of the members of the Israeli media on the Zoom screen armed with questions and joked that he was worried he’d miss the Washington Wizards team flight to Toronto. The Wizards kicked off the NBA regular season on Oct. 20 with a victory against the Toronto Raptors. Avdija had eight points and one assist in 21 minutes of playing time.

Avdija has worked hard to come back from his April 21 season that ended with a fracture in his right ankle. “I always play the hardest I can and want to be perfect from the beginning,” he says.

Yet he knows this isn’t always realistic. “The people I love tell me it doesn’t come right away. I was rushing to be faster than before, to score more. I know I should just be patient and just be better every day.”

The 20-year-old Israeli is a tough competitor and even tougher self-critic. He also shows signs of maturity and insight as he enters his second NBA season.

Coach Wes Unseld has high hopes for Avdija and anticipates him having a “bigger role” on the team. “He has the capability to be a playmaker. We will move him around to understand all five spots on the floor.”

Unseld also insists that Avdija earn his playing time. “He’s not there yet. He has to earn those minutes.”

Of course, Unseld actively continues to help Avdija develop his mental game. “We have a lot of confidence in Deni; we want him to have as much confidence in himself as we have in him. He just needs more—bottom line.”

Unseld notes that Tuesday’s final team pre-season practice was devoted to mental preparation.

He further shares that Avdija stays after practice regularly and asks questions in an effort to constantly improve and to master positions. He notes that he had made some mistakes in the team’s recent practice and wanted to better understand what he had done wrong. “Me and Anthony Gill stayed and brought three coaches to run all of our plays—we want to be perfect.”

Avdija has three goals for the upcoming seasons: to be more aggressive, more experienced and more confident. He also hopes to continue getting to know and enjoy his teammates. “We are doing stuff together. The off-the-court stuff is helping us on the court, too!”

Avdija says he’d also like to continue being a goodwill ambassador for Israel and Judaism, much like his friend and mentor Omri Casspi did during his 10 years in the NBA. Due to COVID precautions, he hasn’t yet had an opportunity to get to know the local Jewish community or interact with fans.

But he notes, “I try to implement a lot of Israeli atmosphere [into my daily life] with food, holidays, in every way that I can. I haven’t met the Jewish community yet, but I am excited and looking forward to doing many things together.”

He says he’s also looking forward to helping put “Israel on the map, as they say.”

For now, Avdija is focusing on the NBA season. “In the meantime, I am concentrating on my basketball, coming back from my injury, so I didn’t have a lot of time, but I believe that in the future, we will have great times.”

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