Ian Froman | |
---|---|
Born | Johannesburg, South Africa | 6 May 1937
Nationality | Israeli |
Occupation | Dentist |
Known for | Playing tennis in the Wimbledon Championships, representing Israel in Davis Cup competition, and playing a primary role in the founding of the Israel Tennis Centers |
Ian Froman (born 6 May 1937) is a South African-born Israeli former tennis player and tennis patron. [1] [2]
He is known for playing in the Wimbledon Championships in the 1950s, representing Israel in Davis Cup competition in the 1960s and 1970s, and playing a primary role in the founding of the Israel Tennis Centers in the 1970s and thereafter. [1]
Froman, who is Jewish, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. [1] He became a dentist in Johannesburg, and then immigrated to Israel in 1964. [1] [3]
Froman played at Wimbledon in 1955, in the Men's singles. In the first two rounds he defeated Stefan Lazlo (9–11, 7–5, 6–4, 2–0, ret.), and Johannes (Hans) van Dalsum (3–6, 3–6, 6–2, 6–1, 6–4), before losing in the third round to eventual finalist Kurt Nielsen (6–3, 6–1, 6–2). Over a decade later, he played for the Israel Davis Cup team in Davis Cup competition in 1968, 1969, and 1971. [1] [2] [4] [5]
In 1973, tennis in Israel was played primarily by tourists at beach hotels. That year, Froman conceived the idea for founding the Israel Tennis Centers (ITCs), Israel's countrywide tennis program. [1] By 1974, met four Americans—Rubin Josephs, Harold Landesberg, Dr. William Lippy, and Joe Shane—and English tennis star Angela Buxton, who agreed to launch the necessary fundraising efforts and obtain the necessary sites to build the centers. [1] [6] [7] They built a 14-court National Tennis Center on an old strawberry patch in Ramat HaSharon that was given to the ITC by the Israeli government. [1] [8] It was the first of 12 centers built in Israel—with the others being in Arad, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheva, Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shemona, Ofakim, and Tel Aviv, Tiberias. [1]
Froman served as director of the center, and then starting in 2004 as its chairman. [9] [10] In 2005, he announced that he would not seek re-election when his term ended in 2006. [10]
Froman was awarded the Israel Prize in 1989. [1] [3] In presenting it to him, Israeli President Chaim Herzog said: "You have created a virtual social revolution throughout Israel." [1] He was also awarded the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Pillar of Achievement Award. [1]
Anna Aleksandrovna Smashnova is a Soviet-born Israeli former tennis player. She retired from professional tour after Wimbledon 2007.
Richard Savitt was an American tennis player.
Harel Levy is a retired Israeli professional tennis player, and the current captain of Israel's Davis Cup team. He reached the final of the 2000 Toronto Masters and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 30, with his best doubles ranking being World No. 71 in May 2008. Levy was a key factor in Israel's semifinal run in the 2009 Davis Cup.
Amos Mansdorf is an Israeli former professional tennis player.
Gilad Bloom is a former professional tennis player from Israel. Bloom trained at the Israel Tennis Centers. His career-high rankings were World No. 61 in singles and World No. 62 in doubles.
Noam Okun is an Israeli retired professional tennis player.
David "Dudi" Sela is an Israeli former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 29 in July 2009.
Andreas "Andy" Ram is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. He was primarily a doubles player, and competed in three Olympics.
Jonathan Dario "Yoni" Erlich is an Israeli former professional tennis player. During his career, he was mainly a doubles specialist, having won the men's doubles title at the 2008 Australian Open with Andy Ram. He attained his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 5 in July 2008. Erlich has reached 44 doubles finals and won 22, mostly with partner Andy Ram; together, they are known in Israel as "Andyoni". His Davis Cup doubles record, as of 2018, was 22–12.
Amir Hadad is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. His highest singles ATP ranking was World No. 180, achieved in April 2003, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 87, achieved in May 2003.
Eyal Ran is an Israeli former professional tennis player and former captain of the Israel Davis Cup team.
Allen E. Fox is an American former tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s who went on to be a college coach and author. He was ranked as high as U.S. No. 4 in 1962, and was in the top ten in the U.S. five times between 1961 and 1968.
Shlomo Glickstein is an Israeli former professional tennis player.
Shahar Perkiss is an Israeli right-handed former professional tennis player. He reached his best singles ranking of world # 53 in March 1985. He peaked at world # 54 in the doubles rankings in November 1985. Perkiss won the silver medal in singles in tennis at the 1989 Maccabiah Games, and won the gold medal in doubles playing alongside Boaz Merenstein.
Israel Tennis Centers 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 1976. With 16 centers across Israel, primarily in underprivileged communities, the not-for-profit Centers use tennis to promote the social, physical, and psychological well being of their students. Another of its goals is the development of coaches, and building and maintaining courts and facilities at the highest levels.
The Israel men's national tennis team represents Israel in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by the Israel Tennis Association. As of June 2020, Jonathan Erlich became Captain of the team.
Ladislav Hecht was a Jewish Czechoslovak-American professional tennis player. He won the gold medal in singles at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine, and won the 1934 Hungarian International Tennis Singles Championship. In 1937 he reached the semifinals of the doubles at Wimbledon with Roderich Menzel, and the following year he reached the 1938 Wimbledon quarterfinals in singles. Despite being Jewish, he was invited to the Germany Davis Cup team in 1938 by an aide to Adolf Hitler who was not aware that he was Jewish, but chose not to accept the invitation. He represented Czechoslovakia in the Davis Cup during the 1930s, was captain of the team, and had a record of 18-19. In the 1930s, he was ranked world #6 in singles.
David Schneider is a former professional South-African-Israeli tennis player, originally from South Africa. Schneider won three gold medals at the 1973 Maccabiah Games, in the men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles. He has played in the US Open, French Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon, and for the Israel Davis Cup team.
Yshai Oliel is an Israeli tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 305 achieved on 8 August 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 809 achieved on 27 June 2022.
Sydney Levy was a South African tennis player. He competed at Wimbledon, the French Championships, the U.S. Open, and Davis Cup, and won a silver medal at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.