tennis

Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

“Althea Gibson’s talent, strength and unrelenting desire to achieve made her a great champion,She made tennis a better place. By opening doors and opening minds, doing so with grace and dignity”

NEW YORK – As the players were warming up to kick off Day 1 at US Open, a massive crowd of fans and tennis legends assembled outside of Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the long-awaited unveiling of a sculpture honoring tennis great Althea Gibson.

Gibson broke the color barrier in tennis in 1950, and was the first African- American to win singles titles at the French Championships (1956), Wimbledon (1957) and the US Nationals (1957, now the US Open). In 1958, she repeated both her Wimbledon and US Open wins.

The trailblazing Gibson – who passed away in 2003 at 76 – won 11 Grand Slam titles (five in singles, six in doubles) and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971 and to the US Open Court of Champions in 2007.

“Althea Gibson’s talent, strength and unrelenting desire to achieve made her a great champion,” said Patrick Galbraith, President and Chairman of the Board, USTA. “She made tennis a better place, by opening doors and opening minds, doing so with grace and dignity. She is receiving a recognition she richly deserves.

In 1956, Jewish tennis player Angela Buxton, who was a finalist in the 1956 Wimbledon singles tournament, teamed up with Gibson to win the Wimbledon doubles event. Buxton, now 85, addressed the crowd from her wheelchair at Monday dedication ceremony and later, along with tennis legend Billie Jean King, shared memories of Gibson in a post-unveiling press conference.

Buxton, was born in Liverpool, England in 1934, where her father owned a chain of movie theaters. He sent his wife and children to South Africa as World War II approached. Angela’s experiences in Johannesburg and Cape Town helped sensitize her to racial differences. She attended a convent school and developed a friendship with a black girl in her neighborhood. Angela played games with this “daughter of servants next door” until she was met with disapproval of neighbors, who said “we don’t mix with blacks.” The landlord threatened to evict the Buxton family when they offered a job cleaning houses to a black woman.

“This incident stayed in my mind until I met Althea,” said Buxton. Yet, Buxton, who encountered antisemitism in both South Africa and Los Angeles, and herself felt like an outsider, noted that she never discussed with Gibson the outsider status she felt they shared. When asked on Monday what this shared experience meant for the two of them, Buxton elicited laughter from the media when she replied, “it signifies that people who are kicked out probably play better.”

“[Seriously, though] it was a rude awaking getting kicked out of a tennis club in Los Angeles when somebody told them I was Jewish,” Buxton reflected.

King also offered insight in to the meaning of two tennis outsiders coming together to play doubles. “It’s really good in the book, I Always Wanted to Be Somebody, this Jew and black playing together. I thought it was great when I read it.”
King remembered being inspired by Gibson when she was a 13-year-old girl.

“I obviously have not had to deal with the challenges that my sisters of color and brothers of color. But I think for young people, the more you know about history, the more you know about yourself. It helps you shape the future. That’s the most important thing I try to pass along to kids: History is not about the past. It is living history. Every single thing you do during the day is history. Everything we all do, each one of us is accumulating history.

Buxton’s rich history included returning to England in 1953 after a stint in South Africa.
While she considered quitting tennis after a devastating loss at that year’s Bournesmouth Hardcourt Championships, she traveled to Israel in October 1953 – by ship, with 100 Jewish athletes – to participate in the Maccabiah Games. Buxton won two gold medals in Israel, was ready to return to playing competitive tennis, and would return to Israel many times including winning Maccabiah tennis again in 1957, and a stint volunteering on a kibbutz during the 1967 Six Day War.

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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Jewish New Yorker aims to qualify for US Open, starts program to shine light on deep issues facing pro tennis players

Jewish tennis player Noah Rubin has been doing great things with rackets – on and off the court – since he was a little boy. The 23-year-old, 195th-ranked ATP professional from Long Island, New York, had a tennis-themed bar mitzvah, enjoyed a successful run as a junior, and has already had some memorable on-court moments since turning pro in 2015.

Rubin has beaten top tour players such as John Isner (2018 Citi Open in Washington DC), and he has given Roger Federer a run for his money, losing 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(3) in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open.  Rubin continues to hover around No. 200 in the rankings and travels the world participating in both the ATP Pro Tour and Challenger Tour events.

He is also active and vocal off the court, advocating for more equitable earnings for all tournament players, and helping humanize the sport through his “Behind The Racquet” project on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  The initiative features many of the world’s best tennis players posing behind their rackets and telling personal stories of depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and more.

This week, Rubin is working to secure a spot in the main draw of the US Open in New York at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He is no stranger to the Grand Slam event; Rubin has played in either the US Open Qualifying Tournament or the main draw every year since 2013.  To earn one of 16 coveted spots in this year’s main draw, he must first win two more matches in this week’s qualifiers.

A local favorite who was surrounded by family and friends during his first-round match, Rubin easily defeated Italian Gianluca Mager 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday to set up a second-round duel with 166th-ranked Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez late Thursday night.

Rubin comes from a tennis family.  According to his mother, Melanie, Noah began playing tennis while “still in diapers.” Melanie and her ex-husband, Eric, would get up at 5 a.m. and drive daughter Jessie and Noah to a 6-8 a.m. indoor tennis clinic on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Jessie Rubin McNally, who met her husband on a Birthright Israel trip, went on to play as the captain of the Binghamton (NY) University tennis team, but her younger brother took tennis to another level.

“Eric and I were a good team,” said Melanie. “He would feed Jessie and Noah balls, and I would pick up the balls and offer encouragement.”

As a young child, Rubin played tennis several days a week.  He played for the John McEnroe Tennis Academy and competed in tournaments, but also played on a soccer team and attend Hebrew school three days a week from second grade through the age of 13.

Rubin celebrated his bar mitzvah at the Merrick Jewish Center, a Conservative synagogue on Long Island and organized a “mitzvah project” collecting used tennis rackets to donate to the Israel Tennis Centers (recently renamed the Israel Tennis and Education Centers).  As Rubin playfully noted, “I can recite my haftarah to this day!”

After his bar mitzvah, Rubin stopped attending Hebrew school and began to focus on tennis. He attended high school in Bellmore, Long Island, for one year before, as his training and tournament demands intensified, he switched to learning online.

As a junior player, Rubin reached No. 6 in the world in the International Tennis Federation.  In 2014, he was the No. 1 junior in the United States.  He reached the second round of the French Open juniors’ tournament in 2014 and soon after won the Wimbledon junior tournament.

One month later, Rubin won the 2014 US Tennis Association’s Boys 18s National Championships in both singles and doubles.  As a result of this victory, he received a wild card in to the main draw of the 2014 US Open. Since turning pro in 2015, Rubin has won four ATP Challenger titles and reached a high ranking of No. 131, in 2018.

The likable Rubin – who stands 5-feet-9-inches tall (1.75 meters) and weighs 155 pounds (70 kilos) – is articulate, earnest and very forthcoming to The Jerusalem Post this week in describing his first-round match, some personal struggles and the often challenging life of young professional tennis players.

“There is this anxiety which fills me at the US Open,” said Rubin. “As you can see, right behind me are my family and my friends – everybody who is close to me.  I love the support, but once I step on court it hits. There is a lot of pressure.  These are all the people who have worked so hard to get me to where I am.  I don’t want to let them down.”

Rubin said that he “loves to show off, not in front of people I know.”

Acknowledging that some of his best tournaments have been in Australia, Rubin offered: “That is because it is on the other side of the world.”

Rubin appeared to be healthy during his match against Mager.  When asked about his health in recent months, given a number of injuries in past years, he unexpectedly reported, “Another injury has stricken me and it is mental.  A lot of people don’t talk about that and that is what I am fixing.  It is a huge issue in tennis.  I have this ongoing quote that I say – tennis is not conducive to happiness.  That is a tough thing since tennis is the thing I love and I still love.  But the system of tennis doesn’t make it a viable choice to really smile each and every day.”  

Rubin tries hard to keep perspective.

“My new mentality these past five months, actually really the past two months, has been to try and just enjoy tennis, enjoy the atmosphere. People are here to support me.”

Rubin has worked hard to help fans understand the real life experience of professional tennis players and to offer insight in to how they are feeling.

“There are a lot of problems in this sport and it leads to depression, alcohol abuse, etc. I am desperately trying to get people to understand what is going on.   I want to help the world of tennis. I think nowadays people are starting to outwardly speak, but it will still take more effort.”

He is making progress through Behind the Racquet.

Rubin described the goals of the online series – to break the stigma of mental health, to allow players to share their stories and to let fans relate to players on a deeper basis.  Rubin hopes to “bring new excitement to tennis.”

Behind the Racquet currently has 13,600 followers on Instagram. Even tennis great Venus Williams has posted about it online.

Melanie proudly added that tennis legend Billy Jean King has also commented on Noah’s important contribution.  Melanie said that many players have reached out to Noah privately to “thank him from the bottom of their hearts” for what he is doing in capturing the often lonely, physically taxing life of an on-tour tennis player.

“He is really trying to do something good and help people. He has already made people’s lives better.”

His sister Jessie put Noah’s off-court work in a Jewish context.

“He is doing Tikkun Olam – he is trying to repair what needs to be repaired.”

Noah would appreciate her reference to the important Jewish concept of “healing the world.” Proud of his Judaism, Rubin plays around the world sporting a necklace he describes as “the hand of God with a chain in the middle,” which his father bought him as a 17th birthday present. He is pleased when fans engage him about being Jewish.  While he acknowledges that he represents America and New York wherever he goes, he adds, “I am a Jewish New Yorker and that means a lot to me.”

Rubin would very much like to visit Israel for the first time, but noted that his tournament schedule has made this difficult. He almost had the opportunity to play in the Jerusalem Challenger Tournament this year – “I tried to go but it was during the French Open Qualifying Tournament.”

“I will get to Israel,” asserted Rubin.  “It is not even a question. I will get there with my girlfriend or my family or by myself. I’ll run over there if I have to.”

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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Plucky Glushko can’t overcome cough, Zavatska in first-round of qualifiers • Sela also ousted

NEW YORK – The Yiddish-originating adage of “man plans, and God laughs” applies even to professional tennis players. All the best coaching, practice sessions, healthy eating and natural talents cannot guard against life’s unpredictable occurrences. On Tuesday, Israel’s Julia Glushko was in action in the first round of the US Open Qualifying Tournament, having returned to New York after a year of numerous, unexpected health and medical issues. 

The 29-year-old Glushko, currently ranked No. 248, faced 19-year-old Ukrainian power hitter Katarina Zavatska (No. 127) in the mid-day heat in Flushing Meadows. Long rallies, careful shot selection, and very few double faults and unforced errors kept the 2-hour, 25-minute slugfest close for two sets. Glushko took the first set 7-5, but Zavatska fought back to close out the second set 6-3 as her set-point shot rolled off the top of the net, landing far out of Glushko’s reach.

Following a short break, Glushko took the first game of the decisive set before quickly falling behind 4-1. Glushko held serve at 4-2 and lost the next two games, double faulting to end the match in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 defeat. 

“It was a good match,” said Glushko’s coach Keren Shlomo. “Zavatska played really well. She doesn’t give you anything. You have to work for everything.” 

In a post-match interview, Glushko added, “I had so many heath issues, it was scary. I had just one thing after another!” 

Glushko’s rough year actually started in the first round of last year’s US Open, when she hurt her left knee and fell to the ground in severe pain during her match against Monica Niculescu. Her knee was taped and she made what appeared to be a semi-miraculous recovery. Glushko battled back to win the match before losing in the second round to the eventual tournament champion Naomi Osaka. 
When Glushko returned to Israel, she learned that she had a fracture in her left knee. Once the fracture healed, she had surgery to clean the meniscus. Following a nearly seven-month recovery and rehabilitation, Glushko entered the qualifying tournament at Indian Wells, California. She played several tournaments in China and in Europe before again being sidelined – this time with sinus inflammation.

Glushko then entered the French Open qualifying tournament, where she lost in the third round and suffered a shoulder injury. She played in the qualifying tournament of Wimbledon in July, despite lingering shoulder pain. She was then diagnosed with a blood infection, which caused her to miss most of this summer’s US tournaments. Just a week ago, Glushko developed a cough and was treated with antibiotics. 

“It has been very on and off this year,” said the Israeli. “I feel like half the tournaments I was either playing injured or sick.” 
She described missing one her favorite tournaments, the Australian Open, and she missed playing with her Israeli teammates to the Fed Cup. 

“I learned that I can’t control life. You always have some deadline to make, or a tournament or a ranking. I learned that life is just bigger than that. I tried to control life too much. It doesn’t work… I just try to be happy each day.” 

Meanwhile, Dudi Sela hoped his visit to New York would last at least a week or two. The 34-year-old Israeli, ranked No. 167 in the world and on his way back from injuries which kept him out of last year’s US Open, needed to win three matches in this week’s US Open Qualifying Tournament to secure one of 16 coveted spots in the men’s main draw.

 Instead, Sela was dismissed in just over two hours in the first round of the qualifying tournament by 27-year-old Canadian Steven Diez, ranked No. 175. Sela called for the trainer in the third set to treat his wrist, before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Sela is no stranger to the US Open. Since 2003, he has been entertaining fans in Flushing Meadows, often in come-from-behind battles late in the night. He played the US Open qualifying tournaments in 2003, 2005 and 2006 without advancing to the main draw. 
From 2007-2011, and again from 2013-2017, Sela made it to the main singles draw, though never advancing past the second round. His career won/loss record at the US Open is 6-10.

Sela returned to this year’s US Open after skipping last year’s tournament due to a wrist injury. He has also dealt with back injuries in recent years. Sela mostly played Challenger tournaments in 2019; success in these lower level tournaments helped him acquire ranking points.

In June, Sela won the inaugural Little Rock Open, an ATP Challenger Tour, marking his 23rd career win and his first in two years. Sela has earned slightly under $47,000 in prize money this year, and just under $4 million in his career. In 2009, Sela reached a career high ranking of 29. First-round losers in this year’s US Open Qualifying Tournament earn $11,000.

On Tuesday, Sela generally dictated the pace early in the match and enjoyed support of vocal Israelis in the crowd, cruising to an easy 6-4 win.

Diez held serve in the first game of the second set before Sela went up 3-1, displayed masterful shot selection and placement, and he appeared on course to win close out the match. However, Diez hit a series of successful passing shots and held serve to take the second set 6-4.

Sela came out fighting in the third set, but Diez quickly took held control and broke Sela to go up 3-0. Sela appeared on course for a comeback when down 4-2, however following a series of balls hit long and wide, the Israeli appeared to lose his desire and Diez closed out the final set 6-2. 

Other Jewish players in action on Tuesday include Noah Rubin, the 23-year-old from Long Island, New York who was the Wimbledon boys’ title in 2014, and Jamie Loeb, 24, of Ossining, New York. Loeb was the 2015 NCAA champion at the University of North Carolina.

Currently ranked No. 195, Rubin notched a 6-2, 6-3 first-round victory over Gianluca Mager of Italy.
“The first win definitely helps moving forward,” said Rubin. “More than anything, I just want to have fun and enjoy myself, and that is why I am here.”

Loeb was ousted in her match by No. 29 Harriet Dart of England.

“It’s always great having a home crowd,” said Loeb following her 6-2, 7-6 loss to Dart on Tuesday. “I wish I could’ve pulled it out today, but it’s tough.”

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Original Article at JNS

The Jewish Tennis Project is a nonprofit foundation that seeks to provide participants with the opportunity to train and reach a world-class, competitive level of play, combining tennis instruction with education to instill a connection to Jewish culture and Israel.

Israeli tennis legends Shlomo Glickstein and Shahar Peer continue to represent Israel and the Jewish people on and off the court. The two top players were honored at a series of events in mid-March in South Florida marking the launch of the Jewish Tennis Project (JTP).

The JTP is a nonprofit foundation that seeks to provide Jewish tennis players an opportunity to train and reach a world-class, competitive level of play. The program combines tennis instruction with high-quality education geared to instill a deep connection to Jewish culture and Israel.

The idea grew out of a four-week visit to Hungary by Assaf Ingber, Israeli high-performance coach and former coach of Israeli tennis player Julia Glushko. Ingber spent a summer teaching tennis at Szarvas, a summer-camp program in Hungary that serves 1,600 children from 30 countries in a series of 12-day sessions.

“I heard the kids say what it means to them and how it changed their lives,” reports Ingber, referring to the sense of Jewish identity the participants gained at the camp, immersed in Jewish living and learning. Ingber reflected on his own experience as a child athlete: “When I was a player, all I did was play tennis, only hitting the ball.” He had little time to focus on Jewish culture and identity.

Ingber notes that “the JTP program combines top-level tennis, including the best facilities, atmosphere and tournaments, with a secular and Jewish education.” He is realistic in also noting the need to provide an education for the aspiring tennis players. “Just in case their children don’t become [Roger] Federer or Serena [Williams], they will have a tennis education, and a general and Jewish education.”

Israeli tennis pros Shahar Peer and Shlomo Glickstein with chairman Ian Halperin and founder Assaf Ingber at the Pro-AM event in Aventura, Fla. Credit: Jewish Tennis Project.

The program is part of the David Posnack Jewish Day School in Davie, Fla. “It is such a good educational environment with great courts and gyms—and their Jewish identity won’t suffer,” says Ingber. “They won’t have to feel shy, scared or insecure to say they are Jewish.”

The program will initially support five or six students, including two Israelis, which Ingber feels will “help integration and make the program great.” The American students will also hear Hebrew and develop a connection with Israel. The goal of the program is to train 20 to 30 students into high-performance players in the first two years at bases in both Davie and Aventura, Fla. Programs will also take place in Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Brazil, serving a total of 500 young players at all levels. Participants will share Jewish experiences and travel to Israel.

‘Very positive, professional, educational project’

Shlomo Glickstein, who retired from professional tennis in 1988, reached a career-high singles’ ranking of World No. 22, played in all four tennis Grand Slams and reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1981, was on hand in Florida to play in a number of exhibition matches, as well as coach local children and greet supporters.

Glickstein served until recently as CEO of the Israel Tennis Association. He was approached by Ingber about potentially getting involved in a number of tennis-related projects. “I thought the JTP program was a very positive, professional, educational project, so I got involved,” he reports. He reiterates the goals of the program: “to give mainly Jewish American kids a chance to get to the top of the tennis world, to get a Jewish education and to connect to Israel. It will also give them an opportunity to connect to all of the Jewish people in Florida and elsewhere.”

Shahar Peer, 31 and five months pregnant, enjoyed participating in the JTP kickoff. “It was an honor to join the JTP at their event last weekend in Florida. I enjoyed sharing the court with Shlomo and coming out to support this important new program to develop Jewish tennis players. It is exciting that there is a program to focus on tennis skills, Jewish identity and connection to Israel.”

Peer reached the highest ranking of any Israeli tennis player in history: Her best singles’ ranking was No. 11; she reached No. 14 in doubles. She won five career singles and three doubles titles on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Peer retired from professional tennis in February 2017

Fans were impressed with Glickstein and Peer’s commitment to the new organization—and, of course, with their skills on the court. In a phone interview with JNS in Israel, Glickstein says he “plays sometimes,” noting that “you never forget how to play; it is still in your blood.”

He adds, “I can still hit the ball,” though concedes that it’s “a little harder on the legs. I don’t move as well as I used to!”

Canadian documentary filmmaker, writer and investigative journalist Ian Halperin was one of the honored guests at the March 16 weekend tennis event. He is the author and/or co-author of nine books about such celebrities as Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, James Taylor and Kurt Cobain. He recently served as executive producer of the movie, “Wish You Weren’t Here: The Dark Side of Roger Waters.”

Halperin shares that his father, a Holocaust survivor, had to hide in a hole when he was 6 years old to survive. “When Roger Waters said that Israel is worse than Nazi Germany, I couldn’t stand it.” He made the film about Waters, following him all over North America in the attempt to get “under his skin.”

But the weekend in South Florida was not at controversial. An elated Halperin tweeted a picture with himself, Peer and Glickstein and wrote, “Honored to have played this weekend with top two Israeli players ever, Shahar Peer and Shlomo Glickstein. Jewish Tennis Project #saynotobds.”

Halperin states that “Glickstein is to Israeli and Jewish athletes what Jackie Robinson was to the African-American community!” He was impressed that both sports stars played three hours a day “and didn’t miss a ball.” Halpern describes Peer as “the best volleyer in the game, even at five months pregnant.”

He says the “weekend was monumental and historic,” as it not only brought the top two Israeli tennis legends on the same court, but more importantly, put smiles on the kids’ faces.

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