Opening Day of Matches 9
Matches started today at Ramat Hasharon, the Israel Tennis Center. It is the equivalent of our Billie Jean King Tennis Center. There is a major ATP Tour event played here. Most of the courts are hard courts. The ITC decided to build 5 red clay courts for the Maccabian Grand Masters players, as 65-84 year olds can play more easily for 7 consecutive days on softer courts. This is quite a consideration for which we are appreciative.
Although I have been practicing a little each day, my feeling of being at a major tournament didn’t kick in until this morning. The buzz of the event is always exciting. As I looked around and saw all of the International flags, it brought be back to 1985 when I played in the 35 and over Maccabian. I realized that one of the new clay courts is the court I played on to win the gold medal in doubles in a 6-7,7-6,7-6 thriller. That match actually helped me start to believe that I could play tennis at a level beyond my dreams.