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, 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.
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 YearChampionsRunners-upScore ↓ 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, 6–31980 Harold Solomon Shlomo Glickstein 6–2, 6–31981 Mel Purcell Per Hjertquist 6–1, 6–11982 Not held due to the 1982 Lebanon War1983 Aaron Krickstein Christoph Zipf 7–6, 6–31984 Aaron Krickstein Shahar Perkiss 6–4, 6–11985 Brad Gilbert Amos Mansdorf 6–3, 6–21986 Brad Gilbert Aaron Krickstein 7–5, 6–21987 Amos Mansdorf Brad Gilbert 3–6, 6–3, 6–41988 Brad Gilbert Aaron Krickstein 4–6, 7–6, 6–21989 Jimmy Connors Gilad Bloom 2–6, 6–2, 6–1 ↓ ATP World Series event ↓1990 Andrei Chesnokov Amos Mansdorf 6–4, 6–31991 Leonardo Lavalle Christo van Rensburg 6–2, 3–6, 6–31992 Jeff Tarango Stephane Simian 4–6, 6–3, 6–41993 Stefano Pescosolido Amos Mansdorf 7–6, 7–51994 Wayne Ferreira Amos Mansdorf 7–6, 6–31995 Ján Krošlák Javier Sánchez 6–3, 6–41996 Javier Sánchez Marcos Ondruska 6–4, 7–51997 Not held ↓ ATP Challenger Series event ↓1998 Gianluca Pozzi Lior Mor 6–1, 6–7, 6–31999 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, 6–42023 Not held due to Gaza war
Doubles YearChampionsRunners-upScore ↓ 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, 6–41980 Per Hjertquist Steve Krulevitz Eric Fromm Cary Leeds 7–6, 6–31981 Steve Meister Van Winitsky John Feaver Steve Krulevitz 3–6, 6–3, 6–31982 Not held due to the 1982 Lebanon War1983 Colin Dowdeswell Zoltán Kuhárszky Peter Elter Peter Feigl 6–3, 7–51984 Peter Doohan Brian Levine Colin Dowdeswell Jakob Hlasek 6–3, 6–41985 Brad Gilbert Ilie Năstase Michael Robertson Florin Segărceanu 6–3, 6–21986 John Letts Peter Lundgren Christo Steyn Danie Visser 6–3, 3–6, 6–31987 Gilad Bloom Shahar Perkiss Wolfgang Popp Huub van Boeckel 6–2, 6–41988 Roger Smith Paul Wekesa Patrick Baur Alexander Mronz 6–3, 6–31989 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, 6–41991 David Rikl Michiel Schapers Javier Frana Leonardo Lavalle 6–2, 6–7, 6–31992 Mike Bauer João Cunha Silva Mark Koevermans Tobias Svantesson 6–3, 6–41993 Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez Mike Bauer David Rikl 6–4, 6–41994 Lan Bale John-Laffnie de Jager Jan Apell Jonas Björkman 6–7, 6–2, 7–61995 Jim Grabb Jared Palmer Kent Kinnear David Wheaton 6–4, 7–51996 Marcos Ondruska Grant Stafford Noam Behr Eyal Erlich 6–3, 6–21997 Not held ↓ ATP Challenger Series event ↓1998 Radek Štěpánek Michal Tabara Noam Okun Nir Welgreen 7–6, 6–31999 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, 6–42023 Not held due to Gaza war
References
External links Official website 2022-present Tournament page at ATPTour.com 1998-1999 Tournament page at ATPTour.com 1978-1996 Tournament page at ATPTour.com ATP Vault