The place: Toto HaKriya Hall in Ashdod
For the first time in four and a half years, Israel will host a meeting at the Davis Cup, and the association chose to do so at the Ashdod Sports Hall, which will be attended by about 1,600 spectators on each of the two days of the games.
The choice of Ashdod is part of the agenda that takes care of making tennis accessible throughout Israel.
Heichal HaKriya in Ashdod, Photo: Tennis Association
The last Davis meeting played in Israel took place in 2017 at the tennis center in Ramat Hasharon, when Israel defeated Romania 0: 5.
This time the mythical home stadium is moving aside in favor of promoting the industry beyond the borders of the center.
The hall in Ashdod is usually used by the basketball teams in the city and has undergone a special conversion to host a tennis event with a new surface.
Meaning: upper or lower
Israel's victory over South Africa in the meeting will set the battle team up for promotion to the upper house.
If you lose, Yoni Ehrlich's team will go down to House 2 and will no longer take part in the advanced stages of the prestigious tournament.
Israel still dreams of recreating the incredible achievement of 2009, when it reached the semifinals.
The difference in the past is that then Dudi Sela, Andy Ram and Harel Levy were the ones who led the team, and now the golden age of the industry is already behind us.
The truth is a long time ago.
This means that even if Israel surpasses South Africa and the next rival, the top teams in the world, most of whom are favorites in front of us, will be waiting in the upper house.
There, Photo: Oren Aharoni
By the way, this will be the third meeting between the two teams.
In the previous two, Israel won 2: 3, the last held in DRAF in 2018 starring Dudi Sela and the first held in 2001 in Ramat Hasharon starring Harel Levy and Noam Okon.
Rival: South Africa
On paper the meeting should be close, and likely to be decided on the edge of a game.
Lloyd Harris is the prominent name in South Africa, ranked 22nd after the team in the rankings (Israel 31, South Africa 53).
Harris is ranked 35th in the world in singles, and should have no difficulty on the way to two easy points in favor of the guest.
Lloyd Harris, Photo: Reuters
Drap's other senior batsman is captain Raven Klassen, 24th in the world in doubles. The other three squad players are far behind in the second millennium of the world rankings. Classen and give Israel the precious point.
The corner of nostalgia: back to past encounters
Israel's balance in the Davis Cup throughout history stands at 51 wins versus 68 losses.
Among the big encounters that ended in blue-and-white celebrations can be found the big 2: 3 over Chile in 2007, in which Dudi Sela defeated the world number six, the legendary Fernando Gonzalez;
And two years later the incredible 1: 4 over strong Russia, all the way to the historic semifinals.
The same magic journey in 2009 was interrupted against Spain.
In the absence of significant achievements in Israeli tennis in recent years, all that remains is to indulge in the magic moments of the past and hope that the day is not far away when we will once again get some satisfaction in the industry we once excelled in.
Andioni in 2009, Photo: Alan Schieber
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