Israel’s Paralympic tennis stars shine in Paris

The world’s top wheelchair athletes, including four Israelis—Adam Berdichevsky, Guy Sasson, Sergei Lysov, and Maayan Zikri—are fiercely competing at Stade Roland Garros.

This year, there will be no men's, women's wheelchair, or quads tennis at the US Open Tennis Championships for a very good reason. The world’s best wheelchair tennis players are currently in Paris, France, representing their countries at the Paralympics.

Every four years, the Paralympics wheelchair tournament coincides with the US Open. However, the juniors wheelchair tournament will still take place at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, New York, as planned. Four Israelis—Adam Berdichevsky, Guy Sasson, Sergei Lysov, and Maayan Zikri—are representing Israel in the wheelchair tennis event, which began on Friday and runs through September 7 on the same courts at Stade Roland Garros, where Sasson recently won the French Open quads title. The Israelis are off to a great start.

On Friday, Berdichevsky, 40, who started playing wheelchair tennis after losing a leg in a 2007 boating accident, defeated Italy’s Luca Arca 6-2, 7-5. This marked Berdichevsky’s first singles victory at the Paralympics after his debut at Tokyo 2020. “I cannot say how much fun it was to represent my country like this. The win, it was the first time I played in front of a crowd like this, and it felt like I played at home—it was very special. I was very happy I could give some good times to people amid all the bad days,” Berdichevsky said. Earlier in the week, he had served as the Israeli delegation’s flag bearer. He expressed his excitement about the victory and said, “The flag bearing was amazing, to walk with the whole Israel team was amazing—and everyone saw me on TV.” He will now face Chile’s Alexander Cataldo in round two.

Sergei Lysov, 20, who was diagnosed with Perthes’ disease at age 9 and immigrated to Israel from Russia in 2019, also competed on Friday. Lysov defeated Chile’s Brayan Tapia 7-5, 6-1 in his Paralympic debut. Lysov, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 17 earlier this month, advanced to the second round on Sunday but faced a tough opponent in the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Alfie Hewett of Great Britain. Hewett, a 9-time Grand Slam singles and 3-time Roland Garros singles champion, handily defeated Lysov 6-0, 6-1.

On Saturday, Roland Garros quad singles champion and the tournament’s No. 3 seed, Guy Sasson, won his first-round match against Chile’s Francisco Cayulef 6-2, 6-3, advancing to the quarterfinals. He then defeated Great Britain’s Gregory Slade 6-1, 6-2 on Monday to reach the semifinals.

“Playing for the first time in a great stadium like that, with so many fans who came to watch us… it was a great atmosphere and a unique feeling,” Sasson said. “Two months ago, when I was here and I was able to win Roland Garros, that gave me a lot of confidence. I love the clay here and the atmosphere. I knew that it would be a good step towards the Paralympics and here we are.”

Maayan Zikri, the only female on the Israeli team, won her first-round match against Morocco’s Najwa Awane 6-3, 6-2. This is the ninth year that wheelchair tennis has been featured at the Summer Paralympic Games. The sport made its debut as a full-medal event at Barcelona 1992 and has been a part of every Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event since then. The tournament this year features 95 players from 28 nations, with singles matches played as best-of-three tie-break sets.

Boaz Kramer, Executive Director of Israel ParaSport Center and a silver medalist in mixed doubles quads at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, expressed pride in the four tennis players as well as Nadav Levi, a boccia player, who are part of their center in Ramat Gan. Kramer emphasized the hard work and dedication that has gone into developing a unique tennis program at the Israel ParaSport Center, which has produced these outstanding athletes.

All three interviewed players—Berdichevsky, Sasson, and Zikri—shared their excitement and pride in representing Israel, especially during these challenging times. They acknowledged the significance of their participation not just as athletes, but as symbols of resilience and hope for their country.

Roni Bolotin, head of the Israeli delegation and a former Paralympic swimmer, highlighted the importance of the Paralympic Games this year. He noted that these athletes serve as role models for the newly disabled, particularly those injured during service in Gaza and the north. Bolotin emphasized that sports can be a powerful tool for rehabilitation and leading a fulfilling life.

As the tournament continues, the Israeli team remains focused on giving their best performance, inspired by the knowledge that they are representing their nation on a global stage during an especially significant moment in its history.