Jewish Tennis Players
This list of Jewish athletes in sports contains athletes who are Jews and have attained outstanding achievements in sports. The criteria for inclusion in this list are:
- 1–3 places winners at major international tournaments;
- for team sports, winning in preliminary competitions of finals at major international tournaments, or playing for several seasons for clubs of major national leagues; or
- holders of past and current world records.
Bold face denotes current competitor.
The topic of Jewish participation in sports is discussed extensively in academic and popular literature, because of the perceived role of sports as a historical avenue for Jewish people to overcome obstacles toward their participation in secular society (especially in Europe and the United States).
Read more about Jewish Tennis Players: Commissioners, Managers/coaches and Owners, Jewish Olympic Medalists, Jewish Sports Halls of Fame
Famous quotes containing the words tennis players, jewish, tennis and/or players:
“I know some of my self-worth comes from tennis, and it’s hard to think of doing something else where you know you’ll never be the best. Tennis players are rare creatures: where else in the world can you know that you’re the best? The definitiveness of it is the beauty of it, but it’s not all there is to life and I’m ready to explore the alternatives.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“I think the Messianic concept, which is the Jewish offering to mankind, is a great victory. What does it mean? It means that history has a sense, a meaning, a direction; it goes somewhere, and necessarily in a good direction—the Messiah.”
—Elie Wiesel (b. 1928)
“Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.”
—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)
“I do not like football, which I think of as a game in which two tractors approach each other from opposite directions and collide. Besides, I have contempt for a game in which players have to wear so much equipment. Men play basketball in their underwear, which seems just right to me.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)