Israel - Russia (2009, Yad Eliyahu)
After Israel beat Sweden in the first round away from home, the Blue and Whites were drawn against the Davis powerhouse of Russia, which lifted the trophy three years before and included players such as Mikhail Youzhny, Marat Safin, Igor Andreev and Igor Kunitsin. And no one really left Israel a chance.
Thousands of spectators filled every corner of Yad Eliyahu, when on the opening day Harel Levy and Dodi Sela brought the first points.
On Saturday, in the doubles match, the "Andioni" duo completed the great victory with 2:3 at the end, which elevated Israel to the top four in the world.
The Russian national team trains with Yad Eliyahu, photo: Alan Shiver
Spain - Israel (2009, Murcia)
On New Year's Eve, Israel played an away game in Spain in the semi-finals.
There the hosts were already bigger than us, even without Rafael Nadal, who came to the meeting only on an encouraging standard, and gave the stage to David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Robardo and Feliciano Lopez.
On the third day, Harel Levy, in a game for the record only, managed to get a point and seal the loss 4:1, when Israel took revenge in a friendly football match between the teams, where Andy Ram starred.
The doubles match against Spain, photo: Reuters
Israel - Chile (2007, Ramat Hasharon)
Perhaps the closest and most dramatic meeting of all.
Israel reached Ramat Hasharon to battle for promotion to the upper house against Chile and achieved a 2:3 victory.
Dodi Sela was at his peak and ranked 69th in the world, and managed to prevail in an unforgettable match over Fernando Gonzalez, ranked 6th in the world, and Nicolas Masso, the Olympic champion from Athens 2004.
Dodi Sela
Many experiences with the national team, photo: Reuters
If that's not enough, the duo Andy Ram and Yoni Ehrlich, reached the doubles match against the Chileans, who were also the Olympic champions in doubles, and at the end of a five-hour battle, which ended just before Yom Kippur, won and elevated Israel to the upper house after 14 years.
Israel - Switzerland (1993, Ramat Hasharon)
Switzerland sent to Israel its guns Mark Rossa (20th in the world) and Jacob Lasek to try to stay in the upper house.
The opening day ended 1:1, after Amos Mansdorf's victory over Lask and a dramatic five-set loss by Gilad Blum to Rossa.
Trailing 2:1 after a loss in the doubles match as well, Israel came with their backs against the wall, and on the third day of the games, which fell on Yom Kippur and opened already at 8 am, Mansdorf managed to equalize the meeting with a victory over Rossa and everything came down to the last game, Shem Bloom, from the top of the place -142 in the world, achieved a great victory of 4:6, 1:6, 3:6 over Lasak, who sent everyone happy to final preparations for the beginning of the fast.
Amos Mansdorff,
Turkey - Israel (1963, Istanbul)
The veterans of the industry knew how to tell, because it may not have been Israel's biggest and most important meeting, but it is a historical landmark.
On April 21 of the same year, Israel beat the hosts 1:4 and with the help of Eleazar Dodman, who was a 7-time champion of Israel and the son of Milli (Zev), one of the founders of the sport in the country, and Gabriel Dubitsky (two-time champion of Israel), achieved the first victory ever In the "Tennis World Cup", after a series of losses, she participated for the first time in 1949.
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