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Tennis, anyone?
In Israel, they say yes
by Simon Griver
World Zionist Press Service
There is an atmosphere of optimism
in Israeli tennis circles today. It
prevails despite the fact that the
Israeli national tennis squad was
beaten in the final of its Davis Cup
tennis zone for the second year
running, thus missing promotion
to the elite league of the world’s 16
most powerful tennis nations.
Dr. Ian Froman, executive director
of the Israel Tennis Centers, remains
confident that next year Israel will
make it third-time lucky in winning
promotion. “Time is on our side,”
he says. “We have young players
who can only improve. And the
country as a whole is a young
tennis nation. Ten years ago, hardly
anybody in Israel was playing tennis.
Standards can only improve, pro
ducing even better stars.”
All the same, the present crop of
stars has proven itself in the inter
national arena. In 1984, Israel reached
the final of its Davis Cup European
Zone only to lose by a whisker,
three games to two, against the
Soviet Union in Russia. Reaching
the final again in 1985, Israel was
drawn away to Britain. Its four-to-
one defeat was closer than the
score suggests and Israel was also
hampered by being forced to play
on grass, conditions that suited the
home team’s taste.
Israel’s senior Davis Cup racket
is Shlomo Glickstein. Although
the veteran player has slipped down
the world rankings to the lower
one hundreds, this does not denote
loss of form but a decision to spend
more time at home in Ashkelon
with his wife and newborn baby.
Indeed Glickstein has lost only two
Davis Cup matches in the past two
years and he recently won his ninth
successive Israeli championship,
beating local players who are higher
than him in the world rankings.
Israel’s No. 2 racket is now 23-
year-old Shahar Perkis from Haifa.
Perkis is ranked 60th in the world
and would undoubtedly have been
higher had he not suffered from ill
health (never adequately diagnosed)
for several months. Soon likely to
overtake Perkis in the world standings
is Amos Mansdorf, currently No.
80. Mansdorf recently celebrated
his 20th birthday by reaching the
final of the Nabisco Grand Prix
Tennis Classic at Ramat Hasharon
neai Tel Aviv, where he was beaten
by American Brad Gilbert, the
world’s No. 14.
Mansdorf grew up in Ramat
Hasharon as did 18-year-old Gilad
Bloom, now ranked 190th in the
world. Both are products of the
Ramat Hasharon Tennis Centers’
training program, which selects the
finest young players from around
Israel for intensive tennis programs.
But perhaps the Israel Tennis
Centers are most famous for the
manner in which they have used
tennis to enhance urban renewal
programs. While tennis is a snob
sport in most countries, tennis centers
in Israel have been constructed in
disadvantaged neighborhoods and
training programs have been used
not only to teach local youngsters
tennis, but also to teach them
discipline and sportsmanship.
Blanche Blumberg, spokesperson
for the Israel Tennis Centers, reports
that there are now eight Tennis
Centers around Israel with a total
of 84 courts. They are located in
Ramat Hasharon, Jerusalem,
Ashkelon, Haifa, Kiryat Shmona,
Arad, Pardes Hanna and Jaffa.
There are currently 4,000 children
taking tennis center courses and an
additional 4,000 attend the centers
through school-run programs. A
total of 70,000 children have passed
through the centers since the programs
were implemented seven years ago.
Most of the centers were built with
funds from Project Renewal, the
social program financed by the
Diaspora to alleviate poverty in
Israel’s underprivileged neighbor
hoods.
If the emphasis of the Israel
Tennis Centers’ agenda has in the
past concentrated on giving as many
.children as possible a taste of
tennis, extra resources will now be
allocated for the country’s most
talented youngsters. The best poten
tial players have always been creamed
off and sent to Ramat Hasharon
for intensive instruction. Now, extra
facilities are being constructed at
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Shahar Perkis, 23, Israel’s second-ranked tennis player, demonstrates his
skill at the Ramat Hasharon Tennis Center.
Ramat Hasharon, making it, in
Froman’s words, “an Academy of
Tennis.” A gymnasium will provide
additional training facilities, as
Froman concedes that, in general,
Israeli players are not fit enough
and strongenough for competition
at the highest level. Also being
built at Ramat Hasharon are six
new courts, two of them of clay.
Meanwhile, Israel’s tennis fans
are focusing their attention on next
year’s Davis Cup. Israel is top seed
in its group and a strong favorite to
finally win through to the top
league, despite being drawn away
from home in every round. Success,
of course, breeds success and the
more victories chalked up at the
national level, the harder youngsters
will train in order to be stars in
their turn.
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PAGE 9 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE January 10, 1986