Tennis ace Novak Djokovic will make his much-anticipated appearance at the Tel Aviv Watergen Open on Wednesday when he teams up with veteran doubles partner Yoni Erlich.
The Serb player, top-seeded at the event and ranked seventh in the world, will begin his quest for the singles title only on Thursday.
Djokovic, who arrived in the Holy Land on Monday night, told the media at a news conference that he had visited Israel twice before and had previously visited Jerusalem, but he recalled the passionate and supportive sports crowds that he had encountered but that this week would be mostly about concentrating on his tennis.
“I’m hoping that I can have a little bit of time outside of tennis to re-visit the important places... of course, this week is mostly about tennis for me and trying to play well in the tournament and hopefully I can see a lot of people coming to watch my matches.”
“I’m hoping that I can have a little bit of time outside of tennis to re-visit the important places... of course, this week is mostly about tennis for me and trying to play well in the tournament and hopefully I can see a lot of people coming to watch my matches.”
Novak Djokovic
Djokovic said that he had decided to play in Tel Aviv because he had missed several major tournaments this year and that it fit in with his schedule after playing over the weekend in London.
He also said he wanted to return to Israel, as he had had a “fantastic experience” in his previous visits.
After refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, Djokovic was deported from Australia and was not allowed to play at the Australian Open. He was also barred from traveling to the US and did not play in the final Grand Slam tournament of the year in New York last month.
Djokovic said he was “honored” and very happy to team up with Erlich, who is playing his last tournament here. The Serb’s only ATP doubles title was won with Erlich at the Queens’ Club tournament in London in 2010.
“He agreed to play with me. It’s his last tournament... where he is going to say goodbye of course, and I’m honored and I am very happy to be on the court next to him in his last tournament, in front of his people in his hometown.
There couldn’t be a better farewell, and hopefully, it won’t only be one match, we will try to win as many matches as possible and get as far as we can in the tournament. We are both competitors and we like to win,” Djokovic said.Djokovic and Erlich will be the last match featured on the main show court at Expo Tel Aviv on Wednesday, which will finally see crowds flock to the event.
Expo Tel Aviv
The event began on Sunday with qualifying matches and many spectators were present to watch Israelis Edan Leshem and Daniel Cukierman try to reach the main draw of the event.
Cukierman was beaten in his match in three sets, but Leshem showed excellent form and concentration and beat two higher-ranked Italian opponents to make it to the main draw and to Tuesday night’s featured match against compatriot Yshai Oliel in a clash that ended after press time.
Matches on all of Monday and on Tuesday until the end of the New Year holiday were held largely without spectators, through the demand of the event’s main sponsors, Watergen, a move that has upset many local tennis fans.
The first upset in the tournament came on Tuesday afternoon when sixth seed Aslan Karatsev of Russia, who also holds Israeli citizenship, was beaten by Argentine opponent Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 in the winner’s first-ever ATP match on an indoor court.
Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, Liam Broady of Britain, France’s Arthur Rinderknech and American Sebastian Korda were other winners on Tuesday.
Dominic Thiem of Austria was made to work hard for his first-round victory on Monday in his long-awaited return from injury in overcoming Laslo Djere of Serbia 5-7, 7-6, 6-4. Russia’s Roman Safiullin was another winner on the opening day of main-draw action.
Play on Wednesday begins at noon and there will be three singles matches on the main court, the last of which will feature Thiem against second seed Marin Cilic of Croatia. That will be preceded by the doubles clash involving Djokovic and Erlich against Dutch duo Sander Arends and Bart Stevens.
ATP 250
The ATP 250 event is the richest tennis tournament ever to be held in Israel offering prize money of some $1.2 million and marking a return of top-caliber tennis to the country after 26 years.
A high-caliber men’s pro tennis event was last held in Israel in 1996. That tournament was inaugurated in 1978 and was held yearly, except in 1982, but funding waned during the heyday of the expanding tennis circuit in the 1990s and the tournament that was held at the Israel Tennis Center in Ramat Hasharon was axed.
The new tournament is back in Tel Aviv thanks to an opening in the calendar created through the cancellation of the Zhuhai Championships ATP 250 event in China because of COVID-19. Major funding by Watergen and its owner, entrepreneur Mikhael Mirilashvili, has brought the event to Tel Aviv.