Amos Mansdorf
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Amos Mansdorf ( he, עמוס מנסדורף; born 20 October 1965) is an Israeli former professional
tennis 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 ...
player. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 18 (achieved in November 1987), the highest ever for any male Israeli tennis player. His career-high doubles ranking was World No. 67 (May 1986).


Early and personal life

Mansdorf grew up in
Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon ( he, רָמַת הַשָּׁרוֹן, ''lit.'' '' Sharon Heights'', ar, رمات هشارون) is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon t ...
, a small city north of
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, and is Jewish. All four of his grandparents had emigrated from Poland to Israel in the 1930s. His father Jacob is a
chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...
, and his mother Era is a teacher. He started playing tennis when he was 10 years old. He trained at the
Israel Tennis Centers Israel Tennis Centers ("ITC"; Hebrew: המרכז לטניס בישראל) is the largest social service agency for children in Israel, serving more than a half million children and their families since its first center opened in Ramat Hasharon in ...
. He lives in
Herzlia, Israel Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...
.


Tennis career


1980s

In 1983 Mansdorf won the Asian Junior Championship in Hong Kong. That same year he turned professional, and started his mandatory
Israeli army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...
service. During his service he played at the demonstration event of the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
in Los Angeles, and lost in the first round. He reached the quarterfinals at both the 1984 US Open and Canadian Open Juniors. Immediately after completing his service, in November 1986 he beat World # 5
Henri Leconte Henri Leconte (born 4 July 1963) is a French former professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1988, won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984, and helped France win the Davis Cup in 1991. Leconte's ...
6–2, 6–7, 6–3, in Wembley, United Kingdom. He won his first tour singles title later that month at
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, beating World # 10
Andrés Gómez Andrés Gómez Santos (; born 27 February 1960) is an Ecuadorian former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the French Open in 1990. His son, Emilio Gómez, is a professional tennis player. His nephew Nicolás Lapent ...
6–4, 6–4 in the quarterfinals, and defeating American
Matt Anger Matt Anger (born June 20, 1963) is an American former professional tennis player. He is now the head men's tennis coach at the University of Washington. Professional tennis career Anger grew up in Pleasanton, California, and played at Amador Val ...
in the final. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 18 (achieved in November 1987), the highest ever for any male Israeli tennis player. His second singles title came in 1987 in his hometown of Ramat Hasharon. In the semifinals he beat World # 6
Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...
, 7–6, 6–3, and in the finals he beat World # 12
Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is a former professional tennis player and an American tennis coach. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles rank ...
, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4. The third title was in January 1988 at
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. In March he beat World # 4
Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...
, 6–4, 6–4, in
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
. In October that year he won the biggest title of his career at the
Paris Open The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association o ...
(now part of the
Tennis Masters Series The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
). He faced the World # 1
Mats Wilander Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. From 1982 to 1988, he won seven major singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one major ...
, but the Swede retired before the tournament began. Mansdorf beat
Aaron Krickstein Aaron Krickstein (born August 2, 1967), nicknamed "Marathon Man", is an American former professional tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. He currently competes on the Outback Champions Series Over-30 tour. Krickstein r ...
and
Jakob Hlasek Jakob Hlasek ( cz, Jakub Hlásek; born 12 November 1964) is a Swiss former professional tennis player of Czech origin. He won a major doubles title at the 1992 French Open, partnering Marc Rosset. Career The major highlights of Hlasek's career c ...
, two top 10 players, on his way to the final. He beat Gilbert in the final in straight sets, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3. He also played at the 1988 Olympics in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, where tennis was an official sport, and this time reached the 3rd round (the final 16 players) defeating
Yoo Jin-sun Yoo Jin-sun (born July 12, 1962 in Seocheon, Chungcheongnam-do) is a former tennis player from South Korea, who represented his native country as a qualifier at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. There he was defeated in the first round by the n ...
and
Kelly Evernden Kelly Graeme Evernden (born 21 September 1961) is a former professional tennis player from New Zealand. Evernden turned professional in 1985 and won his first tour doubles title in 1986 at Cologne. His first top-level singles title came in 198 ...
before losing to
Tim Mayotte Timothy Mayotte (born August 3, 1960) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Professional career A tall serve-and-volleyer, Mayotte learned to play the game on the public courts of Forest Park in his hometown of Springfi ...
. In March 1989 in Scottsdale he upset World # 13
Thomas Muster Thomas Muster (born 2 October 1967) is an Austrian former world No. 1 tennis player. One of the world's leading clay court players in the 1990s, he won the 1995 French Open and at his peak was called "The King of Clay". In addition, he won eig ...
, 7–5, 6–2, and World # 15 Gilbert 5–7, 6–3, 6–0.


1990s

Mansdorf won another title at
Rosmalen Rosmalen () is a town in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. The town is located 6 kilometers east of the city of 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) and has been part of that Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality si ...
in the Netherlands in 1990. In the third round of the US Open in 1990 he beat World # 8 Brad Gilbert 5–7, 5–7, 6–3, 7–6, 6–1. In September 1991 in
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
, he beat World # 11
Magnus Gustafsson Magnus Nils Gustafsson (born 3 January 1967) is a tennis coach and former top ten professional tennis player from Sweden. Gustafsson won 14 tour singles titles during his career and finished 15 consecutive seasons within the world's top 100, re ...
, 6–4, 6–1. His best performance at a
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
tournament came at the Australian Open in 1992, where he reached the quarterfinals by beating
Peter Lundgren Peter Lundgren (born 29 January 1965) is a former professional male tennis player and tennis coach from Sweden. He preferred playing indoors, hardcourt and on grass to clay. Playing career Lundgren was one of the second generation of Swedish ...
,
Arnaud Boetsch Arnaud Benjamin Boetsch (born 1 April 1969) is a French former tennis player who turned professional in 1987. Known for his stylish single-handed backhand, he won 3 career titles, reaching his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 12 in Apr ...
,
Richey Reneberg Richey Reneberg (born October 5, 1965) is an American former professional tennis player. He attended Southern Methodist University, where he was a three-time All-American and reached the 1986 National Collegiate Athletics Association finals. ...
and
Aaron Krickstein Aaron Krickstein (born August 2, 1967), nicknamed "Marathon Man", is an American former professional tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. He currently competes on the Outback Champions Series Over-30 tour. Krickstein r ...
before losing to the eventual champion,
Jim Courier James Spencer "Jim" Courier (born August 17, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He won four major singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open. He was the youngest man to reach the singles finals ...
. In February 1992 in Philadelphia, he upset World # 3
Michael Stich Michael Detlef Stich (, ; born 18 October 1968) is a German former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991, the men's doubles titles at both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in 1992, and was a singles run ...
7–6 (5), 7–5. In January 1993 in Sydney, he beat World # 13 Carlos Costa 6–1, 5–7, 6–4. He qualified for the 1992 Olympics, but had to withdraw because of injury. Mansdorf's sixth and final career title came in 1993 at Washington, DC, during which he beat World # 11
Petr Korda Petr Korda (born 23 January 1968) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He won the 1998 Australian Open and was runner-up at the 1992 French Open, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 2 in February 1998. Korda tested positive for dopin ...
6–3, 6–3. In July 1994 in Toronto, he beat World # 8
Todd Martin Todd Martin (born July 8, 1970) is an American retired tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the 1994 Australian Open and the 1999 US Open and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4. Playing career Martin was bor ...
6–7 (4), 6–3, retired, and in August at Cincinnati he upset Korda (World # 14) 6–3, 6–3, and
Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...
(World # 8), 7–6 (1), 6–4. He reached the fourth round of the US Open and
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
and the finals of the US Pro Indoor Championships. In addition to his six titles, he reached ten other finals but lost, four of them in Ramat Hasharon. During his career, he won 304 matches and lost 231, and earned prize money of US$2,412,691.


Davis Cup

In
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
, Mansdorf played 10 years and won 22 matches (second-most ever by an Israeli, to
Shlomo Glickstein Shlomo Glickstein ( he, שלמה גליקשטיין; born 6 January 1958) is an Israeli former professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 22 in November 1982, and his career-high doubles ranking of World ...
, through 2008) against 25 losses, including a 15–4 record in singles matches on hard courts or carpet. He played a major role in Israel's success in this competition, when Israel played six years in the world group between 1987 and 1994.


Retirement

Mansdorf retired in 1994. Mansdorf next worked as a diamond merchant in
Ramat Aviv Ramat Aviv Alef or Ramat Aviv HaYeruka, and originally plainly Ramat Aviv ( he, רָמַת אָבִיב, ''lit.'' Spring Heights), is a neighborhood in northwest Tel Aviv, Israel. History Ramat Aviv was founded in 1950s following the great inf ...
. He serves as chairman of the Israel Tennis Center, and works in the Israel Tennis Association's youth program. Between 2000 and 2004, he served as Israel's Davis Cup captain. As of 2015, he was coaching 17-year-old Israeli Davis Cup player
Edan Leshem Edan Leshem ( he, עידן לשם; born March 19, 1997) is an Israeli tennis player. In 2015, he began playing for the Israel Davis Cup team at the age of 17. His career-high ranking in singles is World No. 249, which Leshem achieved on 18 Dece ...
.


ATP career finals


Singles: 16 (6 titles, 10 runner-ups)


Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)


Performance timelines


Singles


Doubles


See also

* List of select Jewish tennis players


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansdorf, Amos 1965 births Living people Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent People with chronic fatigue syndrome Hopman Cup competitors Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish tennis players Israeli male tennis players Tennis players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players of Israel Sportspeople from Tel Aviv People from Herzliya People from Ramat HaSharon