On Wednesday, February 25th, Andy Ram became the first Israeli tennis player to play in the United Arab Emirates. He was escorted onto the court by two bodyguards. Unfortunately, he lost the doubles match.
Even despite all of the controversy, he appeared relaxed and focused on the match with his fellow tennis partner Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe.
In a statement, Ram said, "It was obviously something big, history here, what’s been done, the first Israeli coming to play sport in Dubai”.
Ram took to the court just a week after Israeli women’s player Shahar Peer was denied a visa. I was …read more

The WTA has fined Dubai Championships organizers a record-breaking $300,000 on Friday after they denied Israeli player Shahar Peer a visa.
They did compensate Peer and have ensured that her and other Israeli players will not be shut out of any future tournaments in the federation. Their reasoning behind this whole ordeal was the fear that because of the anger against Israel’s recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip, riots would happen during her match.
Part of the $300,000 will go to Peer and her doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany. This is to make up for the $2 million dollar …read more

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Yesterday, I shared with you the statement made by the Tennis Channel regarding the Israeli player, Shahar Peer, who was barred from playing in the Dubai Championships.
The tournament organizer made a statement regarding the decision saying “Peer’s ‘presence would have antagonized our fans’ because of the attacks in Gaza, which left about 1,300 Palestinians dead, at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials.”
Another Israeli player is stuck in France hoping to make it in the Sunday draw. Andy Ram is in Marseilles, France, and awaiting word if he will be allowed into Dubai. …read more