Jonathan Erlich

Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Jonathan Erlich, Israel’s 44-years-old Davis Cup captain, is the oldest player in the US open that is full of up-and-coming youngsters.

In a US Open filled with young, up-and-coming surprise superstars, let’s not forget about the older men and women in the tournament – including Israel’s Jonathan Erlich.

Several stars of this year’s US Open were not even born 20 years ago when the Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001.

The two women’s finalists – Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, 19, and Britain’s Emma Raducanu, 18 – were both teenagers. Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who retired in the men’s quarterfinals with a leg injury, is 18.

The media couldn’t stop asking these young players about being so young.  When asked if they had less pressure because they were up-and-comers, Radacanu replied: “I think honestly being young, there is an element of you do play completely free. But I’m sure that when I’m older or have more experience, yeah, the same will happen to me. I think the tables will turn. Some younger players will come through.”

Fernandez, who had four consecutive upsets of seeded players – all in a three-setters – before losing to Radacanu in the finals, had always imagined playing Grand Slams.

“When I was younger, since I used Justine Henin as a great example, I would imagine myself playing against her. I would also imagine myself playing against Serena and Venus [Williams], and the past few years playing against Osaka in a big tournament.  When I was younger, I’ve always seen myself being in a big stadium in front of so many people and just having fun on the court.”

ANDY RAM (right) and Jonathan Erlich of Israel react as they win a point during their Davis Cup’s doubles playoff tennis match in Tel Aviv in 2010. (credit: NIR ELIAS / REUTERS)

The tennis world is likely to hear from Fernandez, Radacanu, Alcaraz and other young players for quite some time.

The youngest player in the entire US Open this year was Robin Montgomery, who just turned 17.  She competed in the women’s doubles, where she made it to the second round, and won the girls’ US Open tournament.  Montgomery is six months younger than phenom Coco Gauff, who was born in September 2004.  Gauff lost her second-round singles match but played in Sunday’s women’s doubles finals with fellow teen, 19-year-old Catherine McNally.

The duo, affectionately known as “McCoco,” took on the veteran team of Samantha Stosur, 37, and Shuai Zhang, 32, who won the 2019 Australian Open doubles crown.

Stosur, who competed in her first Grand Slam events in 2002, represents the older group of players also experiencing success at this year’s US Open.  American Rajeev Ram, 37 and partner Joe Salisbury, 29, will share the $660,000 prize for winning the men’s doubles championship.

Mandy Minella of Luxembourg, 35, lost in her first-round women’s’ doubles and first-round singles qualifiers matches. Vera Zvonareva, 37, lost in her first-round women’s’ singles match to No. 1 seed Ash Barty.

Qualifier Ivo Karlovic, 42, the second oldest player in this year’s US Open, battled through three qualifying rounds to gain a spot in the men’s singles draw. He lost to No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev in the first round.

And the oldest player in the US Open was none other than the good-natured Israeli, Jonathan Erlich, clocking a ripe 44 years of age.

Erlich, Israel’s Davis Cup captain, has had a long and distinguished tennis career, mostly with now-retired Andy Ram. Erlich has been teaming up for doubles in some recent tournaments with 24-year-old South African Lloyd Harris.

Erlich and Harris defeated Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald in the first round, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 before losing in the second round 7-6, 6-4 to John Peers of Australia and Filip Polasek of Poland. The youthful Harris went on to the singles quarterfinals where he lost to No. 4 Alexander Zverev.

Erlich playfully notes that he is old by tennis standards, but that playing with a player like Harris keeps him young.

“Forty-four is pretty old, but I try staying in there and playing with the young guys,” said Erlich. “I am playing with a partner who is on the rise and playing great tennis. Playing with Harris actually gives me a lot of energy and motivation to keep going.”Erlich enjoys Harris on and off the court.

“I am great friends with Lloyd and we enjoy playing together.”

Playing with Harris after so many years with fellow countryman Ram represents a second chance for Erlich.

“I think it gives me a second wind and overall, I am feeling very well.  As long as my body holds on, it is good.”

Ehrlich and various doubles partners enjoyed a successful season in 2021, which included reaching the quarterfinals in Los Cabos, the semifinals in Newport, the round-of-64 at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals in Mallorca.

Erlich came to the US Open after five weeks off.

“I was a little rusty in the beginning of the first-round match.  It took me a while to get into it, but I finished strong.”Erlich looks back fondly on his 15 years spent with Ram, many of them ranked in the top 10. The pair won the 2008 Australian Open doubles title together.

“It was a different era.  Now, [my] priorities are different – family, kids…”  He feels he is in a “happy place” and “grateful to be playing Grand Slams at 44.”

He has not lost touch with his old friend, Ram, who now owns an ice cream store in Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv and is reportedly opening a second store soon in Kiryat Ono.

“I was his first client.  I had black vanilla, which is amazing, and I love going for pistachio.  Erlich playfully added: “This bastard didn’t even give me a discount!”

Perhaps Ram will treat Erlich to a free scoop after he wins his next Grand Slam title.

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Original Article Published On The JNS

When Diego Schwartzman outlasted Kevin Anderson in Wednesday night’s rain-drenched match—requiring relocation from Louis Armstrong to Arthur Ashe Stadium mid-game—he became the identified Jewish player who is guaranteed to go deepest in this year’s US Open singles draw. The prestigious Grand Slam tennis event is taking place from Aug. 24 to Sept. 12 in New York.

The proudly Jewish Argentinian started his match against the 2017 US Open runner-up at 7:30 p.m. at Louis Armstrong—a stadium with a retractable roof, but with ventilation openings that allowed rain on to the courts—but then was put on hold at 5-5 in the first set. The court was dried and play resumed, even though large puddles continued to form. The match was relocated to Ashe with the 11th-seeded Schwartzman completed his 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4 win at 1:30 a.m.

Two days earlier, on the sunny first day of the tournament, Schwartzman (#14 in the world) defeated hard-hitting Ričardas Berankis in straight sets 75-63-63. Following the match, Schwarzman put on a mask and patiently signed tennis balls, iPhone cases and even baseballs for dozens of fans—several wearing yarmulkes and many unfurling Argentine flags and chanting “Diego” repeatedly.

Schwartzman, known as “El Peque” for his short stature, is proud of his Jewish heritage. He grew up playing tennis at Club Náutico Hacoaj, the Jewish club in Buenos Aires, and he has spoken about his Polish maternal great-grandfather who crammed with others into a cattle car en route to a concentration camp during the World War II. The coupling broke apart, leaving his car behind at a station as others went to their deaths. He jumped off the train and fled, eventually traveling by ship with his family to Argentina.

Schwartzman reached the US Open quarterfinals in 2017 and 2019. He is now on to the third round, where he will face Alex Molčan of Slovakia.

Denis Shapovalov, #10 in the world and the tournament’s #7 seed, doesn’t openly identify as Jewish, though he was born in Tel Aviv to a Ukrainian Jewish mother and a Russian Orthodox Christian father. The 22-year-old Canadian easily defeated Roberta Carballés Baena 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, 6-0 in a little more than two hours in their second-round match on Thursday night.

Elina Svitolina, May 9, 2019. Credit: si.robi via Wikimedia Commons.

There were four Jewish women in the main draw: Jamie Loeb (#194), from Ossining, N.Y.; Madison Brengle (#77); Camila Giorgi; and unconfirmed Jewish player Elina Svitolina. Loeb, who won three matches in the qualifying tournament to gain a spot in the main draw, lost her first-round match. Brengle, a 31-year-old from Dover, Del., lost her first-round singles and doubles matches. This was her ninth appearance in the US Open.

Camila Giorgi (#36) of Italy lost her first-round match to #12 seed Simona Halep (# 13) of Romania 6-4, 7-6 (3). Giorgi, who has had seven top 20 wins this season and won the National Bank Open this summer, recently confirmed to a reporter that she is proudly Jewish, that her parents are Argentines who immigrated to Italy, and that Anne Frank is her favorite book. “The book moved me because I am Jewish, but also because she was such a good person who saw the good in people,” she said.

World #5 Elina Svitolina has unconfirmed Jewish family history. She has won her first two matches in straight sets and will face Russian Daria Kasatkina in the third round.

Doubling down on Israeli players

Others Jewish players in the main draw include 44-year-old doubles specialist Jonathan Erlich. He and South African Lloyd Harris faced Austrians Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald on Friday in their first-round match. They advanced to the second round after winning 62, 67 (73), 62  in an hour and 46 minutes. Israeli Dudi Sela, currently #322, was scheduled to compete in the qualifying tournament but reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 before it began.

Jonathan Ehrlich, May 28, 2016, Credit: si.robi via Wikimedia Commons.

Fans keeping score of the numbers—or rather, the percent—of Jews in the men’s and women’s singles draws and in the men’s doubles draw may be pleasantly surprised.

According to most estimates, Jews make up .2 percent of the world’s population. To put it more specifically, there are 14.7 Jews in a world populated by 7.89 billion people. The percentage of Jews in men’s and women’s singles draws (if you consider Shapovalov as well as Svitolina) and men’s doubles draw are way ahead of percentages of Jews in the world.

Jewish players make up two of 128 or 1.56 percent of the men’s draw, 3.12 percent of the women’s draw (four of out of 128) and 1.56 percent of the men’s doubles draw (one team member out of 64 teams).

And while Israel’s one representative in the tournament seems low, especially when compared to such countries as Australia (26 players) and Argentina (20), they only lag slightly behind Finland (3) and Ecuador (2). They are right at home with North African and Mideast neighbors Tunisia (1) and Egypt (1).

Fans of Israel tennis remember not so many years ago when they could regularly see Israelis Shahar Peer, Julia Glushko, David (“Dudi”) Sela and Andy Ram in action at the US Open.

While few such pros or juniors remain in action this year, Hans Felius, the director of Tennis and Social Impact Programs at the ITEC (Israel Tennis Educational Centers), and the professional staff of Israel’s David Squad are systematically training Israeli children with great potential to one day play in the US Open and other major junior and adult tournaments around the world. When their efforts come to fruition, it will surely help the Jewish and Israeli tournament numbers and percentages.

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Freelance writer Howard Blasreports on the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournie in New Haven – from a Jewish perspective. The tournament was still in full swing as the Ledger went to press.

Ezra Academy makes a night of it
Ezra Academy of Woodbridge joined thousands of fans at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament that kicked off at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale on August 23 and will run through August 29. According to Head of School, Rabbi Amanda Brodie, “This year at Ezra, we are highlighting health and fitness for life. Ezra parents, Jody Ellant and Howard Reiter, responded to an offer for $1 Pilot Pen tickets and purchased 180 for the evening session on Monday, August 24, which they made available to the Ezra community.” Ellant notes, “We, as a family, have attended the Pilot Pen tournament since its inception. The Pilot Pen tournament is a fabulous opportunity to see world class athletes perform right here in our community. It is a wonderful way to begin the school year.”

Israelis in the Pilot Pen Draw…almost
Ezra also came out to celebrate an historic year for Israel’s tennis professionals. Israel’s Dudi Sela, currently ranked 34th in the world, was invited to play in the Pilot Pen but pulled out after dropping out of last week’s Western and Southern Financial Group tournament in Cincinnati, Oh. The 24-year old Sela, who played in last year’s Pilot Pen, aggravated a groin injury and dropped out in the second set of his first round match. He hopes to recover in time for the upcoming U.S. Open in New York. 

Shahar Peer, ranked 58th in the world, and recovering from a stress fracture earlier in the summer, came to New Haven after reaching the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Peer was not given an automatic invitation to the tournament; such invitations were only issued to the top 44 ranked females. The 22-year old Peer played late in the afternoon of August 21 versus Italy’s Tathiana Garbin in the first round of the qualifiers. She was down 7-5, 2-2 in Friday’s qualifying match before a rainstorm suspended the match. Several hours later, and after eight ball kids used high powered blowers to dry the court, Garbin and Peer resumed their match in an empty stadium. Garbin defeated Peer 7-5, 6-4. Peer left New Haven early Monday morning for New York where she will prepare for the U.S. Open.

Israel doubles specialists, Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich, familiar faces in New Haven after appearing in several recent Pilot Pens, did not play this year.

This has been a year of successes and stressful moments for Israeli tennis. In July, Israel stunned the tennis world when it clinched a berth in the semifinal of the 2009 Davis Cup. A capacity crowd of 11,000 fans witnessed the doubles team of Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich, as they defeated Russians Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-4. One day earlier, Harel Levy, ranked 210 in the world, defeated Igor Andreev in the opening match of the Davis Cup and 33rd ranked Dudi Sela defeated Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Four months earlier, the Israeli tennis team competed against host Sweden in Malmo, Sweden. Due to concerns that violent protests would erupt over Israel’s actions in Gaza, the indoor arena was left empty. In that tournament, Dudi Sela defeated former Australian Open Champion,Thomas Johansson, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and Harel Levy outlasted Swede, Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6, in a three and a half hour match.

In February, Shahar Peer made headlines when the United Arab Emirates denied her a visa, making it impossible for her to play in the Dubai championship. In response, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour levied an unprecedented series of fines, penalties and warnings against the tournament. Peer received $44,245, an average of the prize-money she received for singles and doubles at events last year; the tournament was fined a record $300,000 for a breach of tour rules and the event will have to post a $2 million financial performance guarantee by July 1 for a number of conditions it must meet to stage the event in 2010, including the guarantee of a wild card for Peer if her ranking is not high enough for a place in the main draw.

The response from the women’s game marks a watershed. Larry Scott, the tour’s chief executive officer, said: “These actions send a clear message that we will not tolerate discrimination and we will not allow this situation to happen again.”

The United Arab Emirates then gave “special permission” for Andy Ram, then the number 11 ranked doubles player in the world, to be granted a visa so that he could play in an event in Dubai the following week.

Young Jewish players in the Pilot Pen qualifiers
Three of the 32 players in the female qualifying singles tournament are Jewish. In addition to Shahar Peer, Rachel Kahan and Gail Brodsky vied for spots in the main draw. Kahan, a home-schooled high school senior from Unionville, received a wild card into the qualifying tournament of the Pilot Pen after winning the Prequalifier-Yale Summer Championships. After losing the first four games to Romanian Monica Niculescu, Kahan, dressed in black shorts, shirt and cap, battled back to lose the first set 6-4. Niculescu ultimately won 6-4, 6-0.

Gail Brodsky, 18, who was born in the Ukraine and moved with her parents to Brooklyn, N.Y. 12 years ago, fought hard in her qualifying match, but lost to Italy’s Roberta Vinci, 6-0, 6-1. The home-schooled Brodsky has been training at the Weil Tennis Academy in California. She tells the Ledger that this is her first time in New Haven, and that she will soon move to Melbourne, Fla. Brodsky notes that the Jewish players are “friendly with each other.”

Jesse Levine, who lost in last year’s fourth round to Pilot Pen finalist, Mardy Fish, lost in the first round of qualifier singles and therefore is not in the main draw. Scott Lipsky made it to the main draw for men’s doubles with partner, Robert Kendrick.

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