From Grand Slam glory to the next generation of Israeli tennis players

Wheelchair tennis player Guy Sasson, who will soon take the court at the US Open in Queens, New York, may be one of the most accomplished Israeli athletes currently competing on the international sports scene.

He may not have the profile of NBA star Deni Avdija or artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, who recently won the European floor exercise title, but Sasson’s accomplishments in wheelchair tennis are extraordinary - and he has a chance to achieve something that has never been done before.

Sasson, 46, competes in both singles and doubles in the quads wheelchair division. If he and his longtime doubles partner, 23-year-old Niels Vink of the Netherlands, win the US Open title, they will complete a calendar-year Grand Slam, having won all four major championships - the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open - in the same year.

“Our goal is all four in the same year,” Sasson told The Jerusalem Post before heading to New York. “It has never been done.”

Sasson and Vink have already won all four majors, just not in the same calendar year. In 2025, they captured the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles, while in 2026 they have already won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. The US Open wheelchair tournaments begin September 8.

Only men's doubles to accomplish a calendar Grand Slam was in 1951

The only men’s doubles team to previously accomplish a calendar Grand Slam was the Australian pairing of Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman in 1951, in nondisabled tennis.

Sasson has also frequently faced Vink in singles, including at Wimbledon, where Vink defeated him in the semifinals. Sasson joked afterward that Vink “makes me feel young,” while also acknowledging that his doubles partner had played the better match.

“He is a very good player. I give him a lot of respect,” Sasson said. “It is a good challenge. I look forward to that.”

Looking toward a potential rematch at the US Open, Sasson added with a smile, “Hopefully, something will change.”

Despite his remarkable doubles success, Sasson remains focused first and foremost on singles.

“I look to singles first,” he said. “It is very important to me.”

He has watched the standard of wheelchair tennis continue to rise, pointing to Vink, fellow Dutchman Sam Schroder and Turkey’s Ahmet Kaplan among the leading players. “Niels and Sam are always huge competitors of mine and a huge challenge to beat,” he said. “This year, I was happy to win a few tournaments where I had to beat Sam.”

He also sees a new generation emerging, including 17-year-old Australian Jin Woodman.

“He is a new kid coming up. He beat Niels, Sam and Ahmed this year,” Sasson said.

Sasson’s own journey to the top has been remarkable. He was paralyzed in a snowboarding accident in France in 2015. After returning to Israel, he received medical treatment at Tel Hashomer Hospital and then spent a year in rehabilitation. He began playing competitive tennis in 2018 and represented Israel at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.

Along the way, Sasson has also become a prominent ambassador for Israel.

He has consistently expressed his support for the country while competing around the world, appearing at media events following Grand Slam tournaments wearing awareness pins for the hostages and dedicating victories to fallen Israeli soldiers. He frequently ends his speeches with “Am Yisrael Chai,” and dedicated his 2024 French Open victory to the four hostages who were released from Gaza that day.

Sasson says he has not personally experienced antisemitism while traveling internationally for tennis.

“I hear nothing. Maybe I’m lucky,” he said. “I am happy I didn’t have this experience or any bad situation until this moment - but I am ready for it if it happens.”

He makes no effort to conceal his Israeli identity.

“I am not hiding. Everyone knows I’m Israeli - the players, coaches, fans know, and the fans do too. I am not trying to hide. I wear a Star of David around my neck!”

Sasson will not be Israel’s only representative in the quads division at this year’s US Open. Fellow Israeli Sergei Lysov, 22, who has Perthes’ disease, a childhood hip disorder, will also compete. The tournament begins September 8, continues through Rosh Hashanah, and concludes with the singles finals on September 12.

While Sasson is already competing at the highest level of international tennis, Israel is now taking steps to ensure that the next generation has the professional infrastructure needed to follow him onto the world stage.

Finding future stars

At the Israel Tennis Association, CEO Danny Perekalsky smiles when young players tell him, “My dream is to play in a Grand Slam like Dan Brand.”

They are referring to 17-year-old Israeli Dan Brand of Kfar Saba, who is currently ranked among the world’s top 25 juniors. Brand has already competed at both the French Open and Wimbledon and is scheduled to begin competing in the US Open Junior Tennis Championships on September 6 or 7, in both singles and doubles.

Perekalsky believes Brand is becoming a role model for a generation that may be less familiar with Israel’s previous tennis stars.

“They don’t know Yoni and Andy,” he said, referring to 13- and 14-year-old Israelis who were not yet old enough to remember the achievements of Yoni Erlich and Andy Ram.

Erlich and Ram reached a career-high world No. 5 ranking in doubles in July 2008 and won major tournaments including the 2008 Australian Open and Indian Wells Masters. They also played a crucial doubles match in Israel’s 2019 Davis Cup victory over Russia. Ram retired in 2014, while Erlich retired in 2022.

Now, Perekalsky hopes young Israelis who know Brand will soon have the opportunity to become the next Brand.

That is the goal behind the new National Tennis Academy at the Wingate Institute, launched August 30 by the Israel Tennis Association and Wingate.

The academy is designed to provide a professional, long-term framework for a select group of Israeli 13- and 14-year-olds, helping them make the difficult transition from promising junior players to professionals capable of competing on the biggest stages in world tennis.

Eight promising young players - five boys and three girls from cities ranging from Karmiel to Ashkelon - will form the academy’s inaugural class.

Perekalsky says the initiative was born from a simple realization: Israeli junior players were lacking the comprehensive professional environment available to their peers in other countries.

He pointed to promising juniors from countries such as Bulgaria and Georgia who travel to tournaments around the world with coaches and benefit from comprehensive training programs.

“Our players don’t have a full professional environment, fitness, nutrition, mental training, and coaches to travel abroad,” Perekalsky said. “We understood that we have to do something!”

Partnership with Wingate to combine tennis with medical support, routine

The partnership with Wingate is intended to address that gap. The institute will allow the young athletes to continue their academic studies and prepare for their bagrut exams while adapting their schedules around the demands of high-level training.

The program will combine tennis training with fitness, physiotherapy, Pilates, medical support and nutrition. Candidates will undergo comprehensive fitness testing before being accepted.

The academy’s two coaches, Gal Kruchik and Danny Linetsky, were selected from 24 applicants.

“We took two who we believed are most committed to the mission of Israel tennis,” Perekalsky said.

The coaches will work with the teenagers daily, developing the skills required to progress professionally while also emphasizing the responsibility of representing the State of Israel with pride.

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, who attended the August 30 press conference, said Israel is determined to restore the country’s place among the world’s leading tennis nations.

“We see the potential for tennis’ success among the future generation of the sport, and we will do what is necessary to return Israeli tennis to its greatness,” Zohar said.

He said the program will provide young athletes with a professional environment encompassing tennis training, physical fitness, sports nutrition, mental support, personal and competitive planning, boarding school, professional equipment and close support at international competitions.

Zohar also announced that the academy building will be named after Major Yuval Ezra, son of Wingate employee Tanya Ezra, who fell in battle with his Samaria Brigade last July.

Wingate Institute President Ari Steinberg described the return of tennis to the institute as a natural step in helping young Israeli players reach the highest levels of international sport.

“I would like to thank the Minister of Culture and Sports, Mickey Zohar, for his commitment to making high-performance sports accessible to the future generation of Israeli athletes,” Steinberg said.

Wingate CEO Guy Atias called the launch a landmark moment.

“There are moments when you can say that something great and new begins, and today is such a day,” Atias said, recalling the era when Erlich and Ram represented Israel on the world’s biggest stages. “The uncompromising professionalism of the Academy of Excellence will undoubtedly lead us to success.”

ITA Chairman Avi Peretz likewise called the academy’s launch “a historic and exciting day for Israeli tennis,” saying it is part of the association’s broader vision of creating professional continuity and infrastructure that will give Israeli talent the tools needed to develop over time.

The academy’s first step, however, is only the beginning.

Families will be responsible for approximately one-third of the program’s cost, while the ITA continues to seek additional financial support.

“This is just the first step towards a great goal,” Perekalsky said, “to provide our young and committed players with the best competitive environment, so that they can compete on the biggest stages in the world.”

For now, that goal can be seen in two very different places: in the calendar Sasson is watching as he pursues a historic Grand Slam, and in the young players beginning their own journey at Wingate.

One represents what Israeli tennis has already achieved. The other is an investment in what it can achieve next.