The first ATP tournament held in Israel in the last generation came to an end at the beginning of the week.
On the one hand, it was a tennis celebration, with the best tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, traveling all the way to the title and at the same time becoming Israel's ambassador on social media.
On the other hand, there was everything an Israeli fan needs: selling tickets and the production in the stands reminded us how far we are from the top of the world.
For this very purpose, we sat down to talk with Michael Rothman, the CEO of the WATERGEN company that sponsored the tournament, and it even belongs to Michael Mirilshvili, who brought the tournament to Israel at an estimated cost of over two million dollars.
The tournament came to a successful end, but the road there was full of mishaps.
"We have to remember a few things, the first of which is that we received the approval for the tournament only three months before the opening date, which is nothing in time for an event of this magnitude. Secondly, when you organize a tennis tournament, you don't know who will agree to come, who will be able to come and not get injured on the way, who will be injured after he has already arrived.
"This is also the reason why it was very difficult for us to get sponsors and we decided to be the sponsors of the tournament. In retrospect, it was of course a good decision, because our company received tremendous exposure here on the international level and we felt it in real time."
Mirilshvili.
Huge investment, photo: Oren Aharoni
It seems that such an event, which is broadcast in over 130 countries in the world, with the best tennis player in the world, should have brought sponsors easily
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It didn't happen, and as I said, one reason is the short time that was here from the moment we received the approval until the tournament, and secondly, let's face the truth, 2022 was a bad year for the stock market and for business, and people kept their money.
"Fortunately, during the tournament, large organizations have already contacted us and asked us about next year. I believe that next time it will be much easier to bring sponsorships."
If you have already raised the issue of next year, will there be continuity for this tournament?
"Our goal is for it to become a regular tournament and even increase it to a 500 tournament, to attract more players from the world's top. It depends on the ATP and his impression and other factors.
"I can say that in terms of what happened on the court, the representatives of the tour said that what they saw here was at the highest level. In the stands it's a different story, but the world tour is not interested, they are only interested in what happens on the court."
Schwarzman.
Was surprised by the introduction, photo: Oren Aharoni
In retrospect, the choice of venue was a mistake, ticket sales were problematic and the stands were in chaos every day.
"I agree with all the claims. With a hand on my heart, we did not believe that there would be such a great demand for tickets for this type of event, because it has not been held in Israel for 26 years and no one could have estimated what the audience's reaction would be.
"There is no doubt that next year, if the tournament takes place, it will be in a bigger hall and allow more people to buy tickets. We made mistakes that stem from the fact that everyone is new in this field, and we learned to bring all the production mistakes. It won't happen again, for sure."
The decision not to allow the public to enter the courts on Rosh Hashanah was strange and received criticism, do you not regret it?
"This tournament did not belong to the state but to a private individual and he clearly said: 'Either there will be no audience on the holiday or the tournament will be canceled,' and it is obviously better that the tournament take place. I want to say that through the reactions of the players, and the fact that the tournament was broadcast to all places in the world and they saw that the stands were empty because A Jewish holiday, it only strengthened this decision, because it did an excellent service that all over the world understood what Rosh Hashanah is for Jews."
This is also Zionism
Founded in 2009, Watergen has become a world market leader in atmospheric drinking water devices and machines that create drinking water from the air.
The company's solutions make it possible to provide a cost-effective solution to the global shortage of drinking water and make it possible to eliminate supply chains that are harmful to the environment.
Rothman.
He admitted the mistakes that were made, but knows how to correct them, photo: PR
It was the first tournament in the world tour where there were no plastic bottles for the players, and now the heads of the ATP are checking whether together with the Israeli company it is possible to make the matter a standard, certainly after the positive reviews of the players.
Novak Djokovic is a very social person, I understood that he sat for an hour and a half in a lecture about your company.
"Not only did he sit for an hour and a half, he also asked questions and showed interest. He does not hide the fact that he wants to 'rebuild' Belgrade and the issue of water is very interesting to him, as someone who comes from a country that is looking for solutions to these issues.
"He received a water dispenser from us after winning the tournament, and he straight up said he would donate it to Belgrade. In this respect, he did us as a company a huge service, but also to the State of Israel. Because he showed the world that we have something to contribute in these areas as well."
Tell some stories behind the scenes of the tournament.
"We were amused by the fact that Diego Schwartzman, who is a Jew with distant family in Israel, kept telling us that he was surprised by how much this country is progressing. We asked him if he thought he would arrive at the field on a camel, and he said no camel, but certainly not as much progress as he saw here. He is one such that if the tournament takes place next year, he will return here for sure."
So we conclude that sponsoring sports events is something that pays for itself, but also that you have to be crazy to talk because the state does not support such events and the ministers only come to take pictures.
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As far as we are concerned, all the players who were here have become ambassadors for Israel and Israeli technology, this in my eyes and I am not ashamed to say it, Zionism. None of them thought of boycotting us and when they heard that our technology helps children in Gaza, they also got a lesson in Zionism along the way.
"Politicians called us and said that we made a huge explanatory step here. It is true that the state did not help with this tournament, but I think that the bottom line is that it is better without it because it is difficult to move things through the bureaucracy. Politicians who are not related to sports bought a ticket like everyone else and came to enjoy an experience, which we want to only grow more every year next".
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