Tel Aviv Open | |
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Defunct tennis tournament | |
Sponsor | Watergen |
Founded | 1978 |
Location | Tel Aviv Israel |
Venue | Expo Tel Aviv (2022-current) Israel Tennis Centers (1978-1999) |
Category | ATP Tour 250 (2022–current) ATP Challenger Series (1978, 1998-1999) ATP World Series (1990–96) Grand Prix circuit (1979-81, 1983-89) |
Surface | Hard / Indoors (2022-current) Hard / Outdoors (1978-1999) |
Draw | 28S/28Q/16D |
Prize money | $949,475 (2022) |
Website | atptour.com |
Current champions (2022) | |
Singles | Novak Djokovic |
Doubles | Rohan Bopanna / Matwé Middelkoop |
The Tel Aviv Open (also known as the Tel Aviv Watergen Open due to sponsorship reasons) is an ATP Tour-affiliated tennis tournament. It was first played from 1978 through 1999 (skipping 1982 due to the 1982 Lebanon War and 1997 as it transitioned back to the Challenger Series) and was to be resumed in 2014 as a replacement for the St. Petersburg Open,[1] however its return was cancelled due to security concerns arising from the 2014 Gaza War and scrapped permanently in 2015. On June 21, 2022, it was announced that the tournament would return later that year, albeit in a different venue than previous editions. The tournament was planned to continue in 2023, but was cancelled due to the Israel–Hamas war.[2]
Israeli tennis player Amos Mansdorf appeared in the final five times, winning in 1987, making him the only Israeli to win the event. Jimmy Connors won his final career singles title at the event in 1989.
In 1990 and 1991 the tournament was known as the Riklis Classic and in 1996 it was known as the Eisenberg Israel Open.
The tournament still holds the ATP record for the youngest winner of an ATP event (Aaron Krickstein in 1983, at the age of 16 and 2 months).