Israel’s national men’s tennis team was shut out in quarterfinal Davis Cup competition by India, 4-0, in matches played Friday-Sunday in New Delhi. Israel couldn’t even win a set on the grass court, a surface unfamiliar to them.
In the closing match Sunday, Ramesh Krishnan defeated Amos Mansdorf, 10-8, 6-0. But that score was practically meaningless, as Israel’s doubles team of Shlomo Glickstein and Gilad Bloom had lost Sunday to Vijay and Anan Amitraj, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5.
Their loss clinched the best-of-five series, 3-0, for India. On Friday, Vijay Amitraj had defeated Mansdorf, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, and Krishnan had beaten Glickstein, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2. The final singles match, scheduled for Sunday, was rained out.
The match had begun as protesters near the tennis stadium were dispersed by riot police. Hundreds of Indians, Palestinians and Afghanis complained of the presence of the Israelis on Indian soil. Indeed, the Israeli team travelled under tight security.
Despite the defeat, Israel will remain in the World Group of 16 teams qualifying to play for the cup next year, perhaps hosting a round. The cup signifies international men’s team tennis supremacy. Israel had never reached the final 16 before this year.
Israeli tennis suffered another shutout Monday, as the women’s team lost to the Soviet Union, 3-0, in first-round Federation Cup competition, the women’s equivalent of the Davis Cup. Playing in Vancouver, Natalia Zvereva routed Dalia Coriat, 6-1, 6-2, and Larissa Savchenko overwhelmed Ilana Bergen, 6-3, 6-1. In doubles, Coriat and Bergen lost to Savchenko and Svetlana Parkhomenko, 6-1, 6-1.
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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.
