Tennis / Noam Okun: 'Too much noise is being made about women's tennis'

At 29 years old, Noam Okun believes he has untapped potential. But Israel's second-highest ranked men's singles player, who for years was the great hope of Israeli tennis, is also more realistic and is aware that success at Grand Slams will remain a distant dream; he will try to satisfy himself on the lower-tier Challenger circuit - which has far less prize money - and the current Davis Cup accomplishments.

Israel opens its tie against Chile today for a spot in the World Group, the highest level of the competition in which Israel hasn't competed for 13 years, and Okun is worried. Not about the Israel squad's status or even about the highly-favored opponents; he is actually concerned about the home court in Ramat Hasharon. It could turn Okun from being "just another" singles player into a Davis Cup beast.

"People don't know that the surface and the balls make an enormous difference," Okun said. "For all of my life, I have been accustomed to playing on courts here in Israel, which are very suitable for my tennis style. But now they have installed a new surface at the stadium and I really don't like it. Until now, the surface helped me settle in, but now it is less quick and the balls do not rebound as high. It is disappointing for me and for Dudi Sela.

"It is a shame that we are playing on this surface; especially on a court that should be giving us an advantage. The surface is now slower than usual and that is a very big problem against South American players, if you know what I mean."

For the past two weeks, the team has been meticulous in its preparations for the match against Chile. Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich were functioning as scouts and collected all of the necessary information, and Sela also contributed tips after following Fernando Gonzalez at the Beijing tournament.

"I have played against both of them (Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu) and I know what to expect," Okun said. "I defeated (Massu) at Cincinnati and I took a set from Gonzalez and it was difficult for him - I am sure that he remembers it."

"Tennis is a game of momentum," Okun continues. "You know what to expect from your opponent, but you find out what will work and what will not work on a particular day only when you step on the court...

"The Chileans have a lot of weaknesses, especially Gonzalez, but their strong points are very strong so it will be difficult to reach their weaknesses. If you play only to your opponents' weak spots, you will lose, because he will learn very quickly what you are trying to do and change tactics. The smart player will play to the weaknesses especially at the critical moments - for example, at a break point and tiebreaker you have to keep in mind to approach the net on his weak side.

"Massu knows that I cracked in our last meeting and I am sure that he will work on it. We are absolutely the underdogs for this tie; we have nothing to lose. It's not that we do not expect to win, but on paper this is a player ranked No. 200 against someone in the top 10, and the burden of proof will be on them.

"Even so, we are playing at home, so I do not think that the level of our players is reflected by our rankings; it is definitely in the top 100. We will see our potential on Sunday. I believe that we can win."

A journeyman

The celebratory atmosphere expected in Ramat Hasharon is the antithesis of Okun's experience the rest of the year. During a time when the spotlight is on Shahar Peer, Okun travels the world in virtual anonymity, thinking about every shekel (or dollar), and trying to improve his ranking. "It is very difficult to fly around the world alone, from one Challenger event to another," Okun says.

"About a year ago, I went through a period when I felt like I was playing well but I couldn't win. I would be winning a match, but I would lose... I started to get down on myself all the time. You find yourself asking if it is worth it to continue. I don't make a lot of money in the Challenger events and these are not the type of events for which you stay in the sport. At those times, I make a list, like in the movies, of the pluses and minuses - is it worth it for me to continue or should I retire? Fortunately for me, until now, the plus column has always been longer."

Except for the truly surprising success in the Davis Cup, men's tennis in Israel is in a deep recession. The players bounce around in the second 100 of the singles rankings and there are no young players tapped as future talent. The focus has been stolen by the women, which really upsets Okun.

"There is too much noise about women's tennis being made here," he says. "It is clear that we have a top-15 women's player. I am sure that if there were a top-15 men's player, they would not even be discussing Shahar.

"If Dudi was No. 50 in the world, they would be discussing him more and writing more about him than Peer. I don't have any desire to talk about women's tennis, because men's tennis is more attractive. It is easy to be successful in the women's, and you can't even compare the two. It is like soccer and women's soccer - there isn't even such a thing as women's soccer. They just invented a sport that didn't even exist.

"To play for an hour and earn the same amount of money that the men earn after we sweat for five hours is a joke and irrational."