Introduction: Israeli Paralympic

The world’s best wheelchair athletes,
including the four Israelis Adam Berdichevsky,
Guy Sassoon, Sergey Lissev and Mayan Zikri,

are fighting tough competition in Roland Garros.
There will be no wheelchair tennis or quads for
men or women at this year’s US Open, and for

good reason. The world’s best wheelchair
tennis players are currently competing in Paris,
France to represent their country at the Paralympic Games.

Every four years the Paralympic wheelchair
competition competes with the US Open.
(However, the junior wheelchair games will be

played as scheduled at the US Open at the
Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, New York.)
Four Israelis – Adam Perdichevskyi,

Guy Sasson, Sergey Lisov and Maya
Zigri – will represent Israel at the wheelchair
tennis tournament, which began on Friday and

runs until September 7 at the same venue as
France’s home stadium, Roland Garros. Openen
Chesson recently won the French Open Quad Swimming
Championships. The Israelis got off to a great start.

On Friday, the 40-year-old

Berdychevsky, who took up
wheelchair tennis after losing his leg in
a boating accident in 2007, defeated

Italy’s Luca Arca 6-2, 7-5. It was Berdychevsky’s
first individual victory at the
Paralympics since his debut at

the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“I can’t express how much
I felt like I was representing my country

in this way. It was a win, it was
the first time I played in front of a crowd
like that and it felt like I was playing

at home. I was very, I am very happy
that I was able to create good moments
for people in these difficult days.

At the beginning of the week,
Berdichevsky was the flag bearer
of the Israeli delegation. He was

delighted with his victory, saying:
“It was great to carry the flag, it
was great to run with the whole

Israeli team – everyone saw me on TV.”
In the second round, he will
meet Alexandre Cataldo from Chile.