Tennis history was made so far as Israel is concerned this week, on the first day of Passover at Monte Carlo when Shlomo Glickstein of Israel, ranked 42nd in world tennis, defeated top seeded Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia, generally regarded as the top player in world tennis, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, in the opening round of the $300,000 Monte Carlo Open tennis tournament.
Glickstein, who has developed into a consistent performer and has upset top seeded court players, completely destroyed Lendl with his chopping game and his ability to smash spinning returns of the Czech’s service. Glickstein’s moves, particularly on Lendl’s first serves, appeared to set off balance Lendl’s game and forced him out of his usually deadly serve-and-volley game.
A tremendous first service player, Lendl succeeded in only 38 percent of his first services. At the same time, Glickstein limited his errors to a minimum and moved with speed and agility at the net. Lendl is now added to a rather imposing list of Glickstein’s victims which include Jose-Luis Clerc of Argentina, Brian Gottfried of the U.S., and Mats Wilander of Sweden.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
