Tel Aviv Open

Tel Aviv Open
Defunct tennis tournament
SponsorWatergen
Founded1978 (1978)
LocationTel Aviv
Israel
VenueExpo Tel Aviv
(2022-current)

Israel Tennis Centers
(1978-1999)
CategoryATP Tour 250
(2022–current)
ATP Challenger Series
(1978, 1998-1999)
ATP World Series
(1990–96)
Grand Prix circuit
(1979-81, 1983-89)
SurfaceHard / Indoors
(2022-current)

Hard / Outdoors
(1978-1999)

Draw28S/28Q/16D
Prize money$949,475 (2022)
Websiteatptour.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 Gaza 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).

Finals

Singles

Year Champions Runners-up Score
↓  ATP Challenger Series event  ↓
1978 Tom Okker Peter Feigl 6-7, 6-4, 6-2
↓  Grand Prix event  ↓
1979 Tom Okker Per Hjertquist 6–4, 6–3
1980 Harold Solomon Shlomo Glickstein 6–2, 6–3
1981 Mel Purcell Per Hjertquist 6–1, 6–1
1982 Not held due to the 1982 Lebanon War
1983 Aaron Krickstein Christoph Zipf 7–6, 6–3
1984 Aaron Krickstein Shahar Perkiss 6–4, 6–1
1985 Brad Gilbert Amos Mansdorf 6–3, 6–2
1986 Brad Gilbert Aaron Krickstein 7–5, 6–2
1987 Amos Mansdorf Brad Gilbert 3–6, 6–3, 6–4
1988 Brad Gilbert Aaron Krickstein 4–6, 7–6, 6–2
1989 Jimmy Connors Gilad Bloom 2–6, 6–2, 6–1
↓  ATP World Series event  ↓
1990 Andrei Chesnokov Amos Mansdorf 6–4, 6–3
1991 Leonardo Lavalle Christo van Rensburg 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
1992 Jeff Tarango Stephane Simian 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
1993 Stefano Pescosolido Amos Mansdorf 7–6, 7–5
1994 Wayne Ferreira Amos Mansdorf 7–6, 6–3
1995 Ján Krošlák Javier Sánchez 6–3, 6–4
1996 Javier Sánchez Marcos Ondruska 6–4, 7–5
1997 Not held
↓  ATP Challenger Series event  ↓
1998 Gianluca Pozzi Lior Mor 6–1, 6–7, 6–3
1999 Ctislav Doseděl Noam Okun 7–6, 6–3
2000–2021 Not held; return cancelled due to 2014 Gaza War
↓  ATP Tour 250 event  ↓
2022 Novak Djokovic Marin Čilić 6–3, 6–4
2023 Not held due to Gaza war

Doubles

Year Champions Runners-up Score
↓  ATP Challenger Series event  ↓
1978 Peter Feigl
Eric Friedler
Mike Fishbach
Tom Okker
6-3, 6-7, 6-3
↓  Grand Prix event  ↓
1979 Ilie Năstase
Tom Okker
Mike Cahill
Colin Dibley
7–5, 6–4
1980 Per Hjertquist
Steve Krulevitz
Eric Fromm
Cary Leeds
7–6, 6–3
1981 Steve Meister
Van Winitsky
John Feaver
Steve Krulevitz
3–6, 6–3, 6–3
1982 Not held due to the 1982 Lebanon War
1983 Colin Dowdeswell
Zoltán Kuhárszky
Peter Elter
Peter Feigl
6–3, 7–5
1984 Peter Doohan
Brian Levine
Colin Dowdeswell
Jakob Hlasek
6–3, 6–4
1985 Brad Gilbert
Ilie Năstase
Michael Robertson
Florin Segărceanu
6–3, 6–2
1986 John Letts
Peter Lundgren
Christo Steyn
Danie Visser
6–3, 3–6, 6–3
1987 Gilad Bloom
Shahar Perkiss
Wolfgang Popp
Huub van Boeckel
6–2, 6–4
1988 Roger Smith
Paul Wekesa
Patrick Baur
Alexander Mronz
6–3, 6–3
1989 Jeremy Bates
Patrick Baur
Rikard Bergh
Per Henricsson
6–1, 4–6, 6–1
↓  ATP World Series event  ↓
1990 Nduka Odizor
Christo van Rensburg
Ronnie Båthman
Rikard Bergh
6–3, 6–4
1991 David Rikl
Michiel Schapers
Javier Frana
Leonardo Lavalle
6–2, 6–7, 6–3
1992 Mike Bauer
João Cunha Silva
Mark Koevermans
Tobias Svantesson
6–3, 6–4
1993 Sergio Casal
Emilio Sánchez
Mike Bauer
David Rikl
6–4, 6–4
1994 Lan Bale
John-Laffnie de Jager
Jan Apell
Jonas Björkman
6–7, 6–2, 7–6
1995 Jim Grabb
Jared Palmer
Kent Kinnear
David Wheaton
6–4, 7–5
1996 Marcos Ondruska
Grant Stafford
Noam Behr
Eyal Erlich
6–3, 6–2
1997 Not held
↓  ATP Challenger Series event  ↓
1998 Radek Štěpánek
Michal Tabara
Noam Okun
Nir Welgreen
7–6, 6–3
1999 Noam Behr
Eyal Ran
Amir Hadad
Andrew Ilie
6–3, 6–2
2000–2021 Not held; return cancelled due to 2014 Gaza War
↓  ATP Tour 250 event  ↓
2022 Rohan Bopanna
Matwé Middelkoop
Santiago González
Andrés Molteni
6–2, 6–4
2023 Not held due to Gaza war

References

  1. ^ "News | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  2. ^ "2023 Tel Aviv Watergen Open Cancelled | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2024-06-09.