Amir Hadad
Encyclopedia
Amir Hadad is a professional tennis player.

His highest singles ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...

 ranking was # 180, in 2003. His highest doubles ranking was # 87, also in 2003.

Tennis career

He turned pro in 1995.

Most of his success has been on the challenger and future circuits. In May 2002, in the first round of the French Open, he upset world # 78 Christophe Rochus
Christophe Rochus
Christophe Rochus is a retired professional male tennis player from Belgium.Rochus is the older brother of Olivier Rochus, also a tennis player who has been slightly more successful than Christophe. He reached the singles finals of two ATP tournaments: Valencia and Rotterdam but lost them both...

 of Belgium, 6–1, 6–2, 6–7 (4,) 6–2. In mid-July 2002, Amir and his partner Martín Vassallo Argüello
Martín Vassallo Argüello
Martin Miguel Vassallo Argüello is a professional male tennis player from Argentina. His career-high ATP entry ranking is #47 .He turned pro in 1999...

 won the Seascape Challenger Tournament doubles final.

His best result was reaching the 3rd round doubles at the 2002 Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

 Open, with partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi is a professional tennis player from Pakistan. He is currently Pakistan's top player. A top 10 doubles player, his highest Singles Race ranking is 103rd and is the former Asian No. 3...

 of Pakistan. The Israeli and Pakistani team, with its bravely enlightened but controversial pairing of players from countries which are at complete odds, received major criticism because of political tensions, but Hadad and Aisam dedicated their run to peace. This extraordinary doubles team attained an upset victory in the 2nd round over the No. 11 seeded team of Ellis Ferreira
Ellis Ferreira
Ellis Ferreira is a former professional male tennis player from South Africa. He played collegiately at the University of Alabama, earning all-SEC and all-American honors. He won 2 Grand Slam doubles titles, the Men's title at the 2000 Australian Open with Rick Leach and the mixed doubles at the...

 and Rick Leach
Rick Leach
----Rick Leach is a former professional tennis player and a coach from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won 5 Grand Slam men's doubles titles , and 4 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles . Leach reached the World No...

.
The teaming made international news when the Pakistani Sports Board threatened to ban Qureshi for teaming with an Israeli (the threat was later rescinded, and he was invited to join Pakistan's Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

 team). Hadad, on the other hand, received support from Israel.

When asked about the controversy surrounding their partnership, Hadad told reporters: "we came to play tennis. There are some people who maybe want to make headlines, say bad things about this. But I see it as only a positive that two guys from different nationalities can play together. We are good friends and I think we're going to keep playing together in the future. We're here to improve our ranking."

Hadad won the Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...

 tournament in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 in early 2003. He also won doubles titles in Gronigen, Rome, San Remo, and Kyoto during the year.

On February 6, 2003, Hadad and Qureshi were chosen as the winners of the Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...

 Humanitarian Award. ATP Chief Executive Officer Mark Miles said: "During a summer when fear and hatred garnered much of the headlines, Amir and Aisam-ul-Haq provided much needed relief with their simple message about tolerance through tennis... It's fitting that we present the Arthur Ashe Award to these two players on the anniversary of Arthur's death, as Arthur remains the model for all of us on how athletes and sport can make a big difference in the lives of others."

In April 2005 Hadad and partner Harel Levy
Harel Levy
Har'el Levy is an Israeli professional male tennis player. Levy's best singles ranking was # 30 in the world in 2001, and his best doubles ranking was # 76 in 2007....

 won a F1 doubles title in Hungary. Hadad enjoyed his best singles performance in years at the Hungary F3 tournament held in Hodmezovasarhely
Hódmezovásárhely
Hódmezővásárhely , Romanian: Ioneşti) is a city in south-east Hungary, on the Great Hungarian Plain, at the meeting point of the Békés-Csanádi Ridge and the clay grassland surrounding the river Tisza...

 during May 2005. He lost to the eventual champion Boris Pašanski
Boris Pašanski
Boris Pašanski is a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on November 3, 1982....

 in the finals, 7–6, 6–1.

The doubles performances of Hadad and Levy in the months of April through July, 2005, were impressive. In late April the Israelis captured the Hungary F1 tournament in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, defeating Nikola Martinovic and Josko Topic 5–7, 6–2, 6–1 in the final. A few days later they won the F2 title in Miskolc
Miskolc
Miskolc is a city in northeastern Hungary, mainly with heavy industrial background. With a population close to 170,000 Miskolc is the fourth largest city of Hungary It is also the county capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and the regional centre of Northern Hungary.- Geography :Miskolc is located...

 as well, beating Bastian Knittel and Marius Zay 6–1, 6–0 in the final. Levy and Hadad then competed in May in the German town of Furth
Furth
Furth is the name of several communes in Germany and Austria*Furth im Wald, Bavaria*Furth, Lower Bavaria, Bavaria*Furth an der Triesting, Lower Austria*Furth bei Göttweig, Lower Austria...

, where they took the title from Jan Frode Andersen
Jan Frode Andersen
Jan Frode Andersen is a Norwegian tennis player. He played tennis for Norway, including competing in at least 60 countries over a span of 8 years after turning professional in 1997. He represented Norway in the Davis Cup for 10 consecutive years compiling a 30-22 record . His highest ATP ranking...

 and Johan Landsberg, 6–1, 6–2. In July they won at Budaors, Hungary, defeating Adam Chadaj and Stephane Robert 6–4, 6–7(7), 6–3.

In February 2006, he won a F1 tournament in Israel. In May 2006, playing with Konstantinos Economidis
Konstantinos Economidis
Konstantinos Economidis is a professional Greek tennis player. In 2007, he qualified for the French Open and defeated Australian Chris Guccione in the first round before losing to Tommy Robredo in the second round. He suffered injury in 2008 and in January 2010 was ranked 653 in the world. He...

, he won in Rome. In November 2007, he won tournaments in Israel with Lazar Magdincev (MKD) and Harel Levy
Harel Levy
Har'el Levy is an Israeli professional male tennis player. Levy's best singles ranking was # 30 in the world in 2001, and his best doubles ranking was # 76 in 2007....

.

In May 2008 he won in Hungary with Stefan Wauters. In September and October he won with Attila Balázs in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.

World Team Tennis

Hadad plays World Team Tennis
World Team Tennis
World TeamTennis is a coed professional tennis league played with a unique team format in the United States. Each match consists of five sets. Each set features a different configuration . Coaches, before the match, decide the order in which the sets will be played...

 for the Boston Lobsters
Boston Lobsters
The Boston Lobsters are New England's World TeamTennis pro league tennis team based in Middleton, Massachusetts.The Boston Lobsters pro tennis team originally joined the WTT league in 1974 and competed until 1978...

, for whom he played as well in 2006. He played for the St. Louis Aces
St. Louis Aces
The St. Louis Aces are a professional tennis team in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. They entered the World TeamTennis League in 1994, and won their only WTT Championship title two years later. The Aces play their home matches at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park...

 in 2003 and 2004.

External links

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