BySimon Griver, Simon Griver
Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal beware! An Israeli teenager has eyes on emulating your Grand Slam achievements.
Yshai Oliel has won the Junior Orange Bowl in Florida, the unofficial world youth tennis championship.
The 14 year-old from Ramle also won the Under-12 Orange Bowl tournament two years ago, making him one of only nine-ever players — boys and girls — to win both tournaments. The previous eight include Andy Murray, Jimmy Connors, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati.
Oliel said: “I’ve worked very hard over the past year and my efforts have paid off. I was very pleased with my tennis throughout the tournament and especially in the final.
"This year I start playing the Under-18 tournaments and my target is to win every one that I play in. I would love in a few years time to be playing in the same tournaments as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and my biggest dream is to win a grand-slam tournament one day.”
Oliel, who was top seed in the Orange Bowl tournament, justified the ranking when he beat second seed Chen-jui Ho of Taiwan 7-5, 7-5 in a close-fought final.
“I knew the final was going to be tough because he is such a tall and strong player. He is 6ft 3 ins and for me it was like facing a monster. But I beat him with good tennis.”
Israel Tennis Association CEO Shlomo Glickstein, a former world top 20 player himself, said: “This is a very special young player and to have won both age categories in this tournament is amazing.
"He is one of the top three players for his age but the next two years will be crucial in his development because it gets more difficult as you get older.
"He deserves enormous credit for his hard work and achievement as do his trainer and all those supporting him."