Amir Hadad (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אמיר חדד, born 17 February 1978) is a retired Israeli professional

tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

. His highest singles ATP ranking was World No. 180, achieved in April 2003, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 87, achieved in May 2003.

Tennis career

Hadad turned pro in 1995. Most of his success has been on the challenger and future circuits. In May 2002, in the first round of the French Open, he upset world No. 78 Christophe Rochus of Belgium, 6–1, 6–2, 6–7 (4,) 6–2. Hadad has trained at the Israel Tennis Centers. In mid-July 2002, Amir and his partner

Martín Vassallo Argüello Martín Miguel Vassallo Argüello (born 10 February 1980) is a retired professional male tennis player from Argentina. His career-high ATP singles ranking is World No. 47, achieved in April 2009 shortly after reaching the semifinals of Acapulco ...

won the Seascape Challenger Tournament doubles final. His best result was reaching the 3rd round doubles at the 2002 Wimbledon Open, with partner

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Punjabi, ; born 17 Mar 1980) is a Pakistani professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He is the only Pakistani player ever to reach a Grand Slam final, having done so in both men's and mixed doubles at the ...

of Pakistan. The Israeli and Pakistani team received major criticism because of political tensions, but Hadad and Aisam dedicated their run to peace. They won an upset victory in the 2nd round over the No. 11 seeded team of

Ellis Ferreira Ellis Ferreira (born 19 February 1970) is a former professional male tennis player from South Africa. He played collegiately at the University of Alabama, earning all-SEC and all-American honors. Ferreira competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in ...

and

Rick Leach Rick Leach (born December 28, 1964) is a former professional tennis player and a coach from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won five Grand Slam doubles titles (three at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the US Ope ...

. On 6 February 2003, Hadad and Qureshi were awarded the

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Un ...

Humanitarian Award. Hadad won tournaments in Groningen, Kyoto, Rome, San Remo, and Vietnam in 2003. In April 2005 Hadad and partner

Harel Levy Harel Levy ( he, הראל לוי; born 5 August 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player, and the current captain of Israel's Davis Cup team. He reached the final of the 2000 Toronto Masters and achieved a career-high singles rank ...

won a F1 doubles title in Hungary. Hadad enjoyed his best singles performance in years at the Hungary F3 tournament held in Hódmezővásárhely during May 2005. He lost to the eventual champion

Boris Pašanski Boris Pašanski ( sr-Cyrl, Бopиc Пaшaнcки), often spelled Pashanski in English-language media, is a Serbian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking of world number 55 on 27 February 2006. Bet ...

in the finals, 7–6, 6–1. Later in 2005, Hadad and Levy won the Hungary F1 tournament in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, defeating Nikola Martinovic and Josko Topic 5–7, 6–2, 6–1 in the final. They beat Bastian Knittel and Marius Zay 6–1, 6–0 to capture the F2 title in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...

. Levy and Hadad then competed in May in

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division ('' Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the ...

, where they took the title from Jan Frode Andersen and Johan Landsberg, 6–1, 6–2. In July they won at Budaors, Hungary, defeating Adam Chadaj and Stephane Robert 6–4, 6–7(7), 6–3. In February 2006, he won a F1 tournament in Israel. In May 2006, playing with Konstantinos Economidis, he won in Rome. In November 2007, he won tournaments in Israel with Lazar Magdinčev (MKD) and

. In May 2008 he won in Hungary with Stefan Wauters. In September and October he won with Attila Balázs in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.

Davis Cup

Hadad played Davis Cup for Israel from 1998 to 2009, winning 5 of his 12 matches.

World TeamTennis

Hadad played

World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...

for the

Boston Lobsters The Boston Lobsters were a World TeamTennis team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Lobsters played home matches at the Walter Brown Arena, Boston University, in Boston, MA. The most recent Boston Lobsters were a reincarnation of two pr ...

in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He played for the

St. Louis Aces The St. Louis Aces were a professional tennis team in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. They entered the World TeamTennis League in 1994, and won their only WTT Championship title two years later. The Aces played their home matches at the Dwight ...

in 2003 and 2004.

Personal life

Hadad is of Tunisian-Jewish descent.

References

External links