Davis cup
Incredibly Israel beat Russia at tennis in the Davis cup match that took place this weekend at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. I watched on TV as the two singles matches and the doubles were won by Israeli players and it was exciting and amazing. No doubt the noisy Israeli crowd at the arena fired up the Israeli players.
In the first singels match Harel Levy (ranked 210) beat Igor Andreev (24) 6:4 6:2 4:6 6:2, and in the second Dudi Sela (33, up from 54 after his his fourth round match at Wimbledon) beat Mikhail Youzhny (44) 3:6 6:1 6:0 7:5. Needless to say both results were upsets. In the first match Andreev never seemed to reach his form and looked downcast throughout the match. Youzhny on the other hand started strong, won the first set and and looked in good form throughout, but Dudi out-played him.
The doubles were expected to be an easier match for Andy Ram and Yoni Ehrlich (ranked 10 for doubles) , who had established themseslves as a winning pair on the international circuit until Yoni was out for 10 months with a bad back. This was one of their first tournaments playing together again, and they did very well. They played Marat Safin (60 for singles but 168 for doubles) and Igor Kunitzyn (39/71) and although the Israelis won the first two sets, they lost the next two and only clinched the win in the fifth set, the score was 6:3 6:4 6:7 4:6 6:4.
With three wins out of 5 matches that means Israel has won and will go into the semi-finals of the world championship for the first time, making Israel one of the top four teams in the world! There are the two reverse singles still to play, but the results will not affect the outcome of the rubber. Israel will then play the winner of the Germany-Spain contest.
While this is on the 18th Maccabia Games are also starting at the Ramat Gan stadium and other sites around Israel, and there are a larger number of athletes participating than ever before from around the world, now up to ca. 7,500. By size this is the third largest athletics meet in the world and Israel hosts it every 4 years. This year the Olympic Gold Medal American swimmer Jason Lezak will lead the American team. He chose to come here rather than compete in the world swimming championships.
The first Israeli to be signed by an American NBA team Omri Caspi started at the Sacramento Kings this season. He represents the outcome of the interest in basketball in Israel, including the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team that has won many European championship titles in the past.
There used to be an anti-Semitic prejudice that Jews were not good sportsmen. This was similar to the common belief that Jews could not fight, but the IDF put an end to that myth. As far as sports were concerned there was Sandy Koufax in baseball, Max Baer in boxing, Mark Spitz the swimmer (who won 8 Gold medals) and so on. With Israel's win against Russia in the Davis cup, let's put that canard finally to rest.
In the first singels match Harel Levy (ranked 210) beat Igor Andreev (24) 6:4 6:2 4:6 6:2, and in the second Dudi Sela (33, up from 54 after his his fourth round match at Wimbledon) beat Mikhail Youzhny (44) 3:6 6:1 6:0 7:5. Needless to say both results were upsets. In the first match Andreev never seemed to reach his form and looked downcast throughout the match. Youzhny on the other hand started strong, won the first set and and looked in good form throughout, but Dudi out-played him.
The doubles were expected to be an easier match for Andy Ram and Yoni Ehrlich (ranked 10 for doubles) , who had established themseslves as a winning pair on the international circuit until Yoni was out for 10 months with a bad back. This was one of their first tournaments playing together again, and they did very well. They played Marat Safin (60 for singles but 168 for doubles) and Igor Kunitzyn (39/71) and although the Israelis won the first two sets, they lost the next two and only clinched the win in the fifth set, the score was 6:3 6:4 6:7 4:6 6:4.
With three wins out of 5 matches that means Israel has won and will go into the semi-finals of the world championship for the first time, making Israel one of the top four teams in the world! There are the two reverse singles still to play, but the results will not affect the outcome of the rubber. Israel will then play the winner of the Germany-Spain contest.
While this is on the 18th Maccabia Games are also starting at the Ramat Gan stadium and other sites around Israel, and there are a larger number of athletes participating than ever before from around the world, now up to ca. 7,500. By size this is the third largest athletics meet in the world and Israel hosts it every 4 years. This year the Olympic Gold Medal American swimmer Jason Lezak will lead the American team. He chose to come here rather than compete in the world swimming championships.
The first Israeli to be signed by an American NBA team Omri Caspi started at the Sacramento Kings this season. He represents the outcome of the interest in basketball in Israel, including the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team that has won many European championship titles in the past.
There used to be an anti-Semitic prejudice that Jews were not good sportsmen. This was similar to the common belief that Jews could not fight, but the IDF put an end to that myth. As far as sports were concerned there was Sandy Koufax in baseball, Max Baer in boxing, Mark Spitz the swimmer (who won 8 Gold medals) and so on. With Israel's win against Russia in the Davis cup, let's put that canard finally to rest.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:33 PM
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