Tel Aviv

Original Article Published In The JP

Argentine-Jewish tennis star Diego Schwartzman shared his thoughts with The Jerusalem Post after his maiden trip to Israel for a recent tournament.

Diego Schwartzman, the highest-ranked Jewish tennis player in the world, finally made it to Israel.

He liked it so much that he can’t wait to come back and explore more.

The Argentina-born Schwartzman, 30 years old and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, is the 17th-ranked men’s player in the world. He briefly visited Israel over the past few weeks while participating in the Tel Aviv Watergen Open, which took place from September 26 to October 2. While Schwartzman did not have an opportunity to travel outside of Tel Aviv, he extensively explored the city on foot. And he loved it.

“I was surprised by Tel Aviv in a good way. I didn’t expect it to be so amazing. It is for sure one of my top-three best cities in the world.”

Diego Schwartzman

“I was surprised by Tel Aviv in a good way. I didn’t expect it to be so amazing. It is for sure one of my top-three best cities in the world,” Schwartzman shared with The Jerusalem Post via Zoom from his car in Buenos Aires.

Schwartzman, the tournament’s No. 3 seed (behind Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic) had a bye in the first round before losing to Arthur Rinderknech of France 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 and quickly returned to Argentina. He was enjoying a rare visit home where he was spending time at the mall playing games with nieces and nephews and looking forward to spending Yom Kippur with family in Buenos Aires. He planned to join them for synagogue services and break-fast.

Diego Schwartzman plays a shot against Stefanos Tsitsipas in his Laver Cup Tennis match. (credit: PETER VAN DEN BERG-USA TODAY SPORTS/VIA REUTERS)

Schwartzman’s expectations of Israel vs. reality

Schwartzman was still feeling excited and enthusiastic about his first visit to Israel.

“From what you see on TV, you expect different things,” said Schwarzman. “I walked on different days for a long time to almost every part of the city. That’s why I can tell you it’s an amazing city. There were so many amazing things – young people, so many bars, good restaurants, coffee places, green spaces like squares, and beaches – the combination of city and new and modern and old traditions. I liked the freedom of the young people and the way people live there.”

Schwartzman expected to see “more religious people” in Tel Aviv. He definitely interacted with observant Jews in Tel Aviv, but noted “some follow a religious lifestyle, but in a modern way.”

Schwartzman’s parents, Ricardo and Silvana, also visited Israel for the first time.

“My family got to go to Jerusalem. They got to take a very nice walk.”

Competing in the event definitely limited Schwartzman’s chances to be a tourist.

“I arrived Monday, on Rosh Hashanah, and you could feel Rosh Hashanah in the air – not too much was open Monday, or Tuesday or Friday or Shabbat. I had to play on Thursday.”

He has already studied the map and internet and has identified places he’d like to visit on a future visit.

“I want to come back as a tourist and visit other places. I see everything is close, like the Dead Sea and Haifa. Right now there is peace and no conflict. It is a good time to come. I will be back for sure!”

While Schwartzman – who reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 8 in the world in October 2020 – experienced an earlier-than-expected departure during the Tel Aviv Watergen Open, he was very impressed with the tournament’s organization and atmosphere.

“They did amazing work – they built the place [at Expo Tel Aviv] four days before the tournament and it was well organized.”

Schwartzman has had the greatest success on clay and would have preferred playing outdoors, in a stadium.

“It is difficult to have tournaments indoors.” He is hopeful that future tournaments will have “a bigger court one, more practice courts and maybe a bigger stadium.”

Schwartzman was pleased with the crowds and their enthusiasm in general and for him.

“Novak was there and people wanted to go see him,” said Schwartzman. “It was great to see a full stadium. The crowd was good and the support for me was amazing. I felt like I was at home. People were fighting for me.

“I had a match point and almost came back. I was not playing my best. That’s why I want to come back!”

Schwartzman had several other meaningful experiences at the Tel Aviv Watergen Open. He enjoyed seeing Israeli tennis friends, including Israel’s Davis Cup team member Edan Leshem and retired player Amir Weintraub.

“He beat me in the third round of the qualifiers at the Australian Open,” Schwartzman jokingly said of Weintraub.

Indeed, Weintraub defeated Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4 at the 2013 Australian Open qualifiers in Melbourne. Weintraub entered the main draw and lost in the second round. The two also got to know each other at the 2014 Davis Cup, when Israel played Argentina in Sunrise, Florida.

Schwartzman was also excited to learn about tournament sponsor Watergen’s products.

“The owner of Watergen showed me everything and how they take water from the air. It is crazy how this high tech keeps improving every year.”

He also had an opportunity to try playing tennis in a wheelchair with one of Israel’s all-time great wheelchair tennis players, Noam Gershony.

“I was very bad. I can’t move. I don’t know how they do it! When you try, you realize how difficult it is for them – not just to play but to move and hit how they do. It was nice to share a moment with wheelchair players.”

Schwartzman enjoyed his first taste of Israel. And he can’t wait to come back. Israel will be equally happy to welcome Schwartzman and his family back for a longer visit, and for now, will continue to take pride in his accomplishments on the court across the globe.

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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

Djokovic, Thiem, Schwartzman among the headliners • Returning tournament to start on Rosh Hashanah

Fans of Israel tennis are overjoyed that the Watergen ATP 250 series Tel Aviv Open will return to Israel this September after a 26-year hiatus. The hype is especially high since such top players as Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic and Jewish-Argentine Diego Schwartzman will be coming to the Holy Land.

Some tennis lovers, however, wish the tournament would have delayed its September 25 start date by two days to avoid conflicting with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

The tournament, with $949,475 in prize money, takes place September 25-October 2 at the Expo Tel Aviv complex. The tournament follows Israel’s hosting of the Davis Cup, the premier international team event in men’s tennis, against the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv on September 16 and 17.

Sunday, the 25th, is the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which will continue through sunset on Tuesday, September 27.

Stars recall previous trips to Israel

“It is very exciting to have a prestigious ATP event back in Israel. It is amazing the names of the players that have signed up for the tournament,” reports an excited Yoni Yair, VP of Development for Israel Tennis and Education Centers (ITEC).

Other top players in the 28-person men’s singles draw and the 16-team doubles draw include Botic Van De Zandschulp of the Netherlands, Karen Khachanov (Russia), Tommy Paul (USA), Jenson Brooksby (USA), and Adrian Mannarino (France).

Joao Sousa of Portugal enjoyed being in Israel in 2012 for the Davis Cup but playfully noted, “You beat me – not a very good memory!”

Sousa, like many players, has opportunities to explore Israel given the playing demands.

“I didn’t get to travel around Israel but we stayed in a nice hotel near the beach in Tel Aviv. The country had a nice atmosphere. Hopefully, I will get to explore more!”

Yair recalls the excitement in Israel when past tournaments came to town.

“I remember the buzz and the atmosphere through the years that we hosted the international ATP tournament in Israel. It was such a special time in Israel when first-class players played in the tournament. The stands were always full.”

Yair, whose Israel Tennis and Education Centers provide tennis training and social impact programming to thousands in Israel, is pleased with the impact of such tournaments on the younger generation of Israelis.

“These tournaments were a huge inspiration for our younger players to dream big. I am sure that this event will be a huge success and will drive and introduce the game of tennis to so many young children. The tournament will have a huge impact on tennis in Israel and will create great morale.”

“The tournament will have a huge impact on tennis in Israel and will create great morale”Yoni Yair, VP of Development for Israel Tennis and Education Centers

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN (right) and Spaniard Rafael Nadal meet at the net after the Jewish-Argentine won their quarterfinal match last month in Rome. The two face off today in the French Open semifinals (credit: REUTERS)

Argentine grandson of Holocaust survivors makes Holy Land return

Schwartzman has spoken openly about being Jewish and being the grandson of Holocaust survivors.

“My great grandfather on my mom’s side, who lived in Poland, was put on a train to a concentration camp during the Holocaust,” the 16th-ranked Schwartzman recently noted. “The coupling that connected two of the train’s cars somehow broke. Part of the train kept going, and the other stayed behind. That allowed everyone trapped inside, including my great-grandfather, to run for their lives. Luckily, he made it without being caught. Just thinking about it makes me realize how lives can change in a heartbeat.

My great grandfather brought his family by boat to Argentina. When they arrived, they spoke Yiddish and no Spanish. My father’s family was from Russia, and they also went to Argentina by boat. It wasn’t easy for all of them to totally change their lives after the war, but they did.”

Schwartzman is excited to finally get to Israel.

“I really want to be there. It is my first time. I have friends there. Many of my friends went there a few weeks ago for the Maccabiah. I know everything about the country but I want to be there just to see myself – some tennis and some good moments, I hope.”

Schwartzman will not have much of an opportunity to travel around Israel as his next tournament following the Watergen Tel Aviv Open will be in Kazakhstan or Japan.

Israel to welcome world’s former No. 1

While the Israel tournament is delighted to welcome a top-ranked Jewish player to the tournament and to Israel, there is added excitement in welcoming world’s former No. 1, Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic has been considered controversial for a number of his views on vaccination. The 35 year old has refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As a result, he has missed such tournaments as the Australian Open and the current US Open. He did play at Wimbledon where he went on to win the tournament.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC is not playing in the ongoing US Open due to his COVID-19 unvaccinated status. But the Serb is slated to play next month in Tel Aviv. (credit: REUTERS)

Djokovic is also 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.”

“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,” added Watergen President Michael Mirilashvili.

One lifelong supporter of Israel tennis recently wrote to Mirilashvili to share concerns about the tournament coinciding with Rosh Hashanah.

“It is disappointing and that is putting it mildly, to realize that the first two dates of the tournament will be played on Rosh Hashanah, September 26 and 27. This not only clearly desecrates the spiritual holiness of these sacred days in the Jewish calendar; it also prevents those of us who are Orthodox and who love tennis, from attending on those two days. And there are certainly some who will boycott the entire tournament because of this religious desecration.”

He suggested that the Israel Tennis Association, the ATP and the CEO of Watergen, consider suspending play on Rosh Hashanah and extend the tournament through October 4.

“As a tennis aficionado, I know that with the commitments of the players and officials such a suspension would not be easy.”

The tournament is scheduled to proceed as planned with play starting on September 25.

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