Tel Aviv Open

(Redirected from Riklis Classic)

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]

Tel Aviv Open
Defunct tennis tournament
SponsorWatergen
Founded1978; 46 years ago (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)
SinglesSerbia Novak Djokovic
DoublesIndia Rohan Bopanna / Netherlands Matwé Middelkoop

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

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Singles

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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 Israel–Hamas war

Doubles

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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 Israel–Hamas war

References

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