Harel Levy

Harel Levy (הראל לוי; born 5 August 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player, and the current captain of Israel's Davis Cup team.

They returned to Israel, and in 1992 the family moved to Ramat HaSharon so he could train at the Israel Tennis Centers there.

That year, he was No. 1 in the under-14 age group in Israel.

Levy was the first Israeli to reach an ATP Tour final since Amos Mansdorf in 1994, and jumped to No. 70 in the world rankings.

After turning pro in 1995, Levy served his required time in the Israeli military, but the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) allowed him to compete in events during his service.

In March 1998 he and Lior Mor won in Israel, defeating Barry Cowan and Filippo Veglio in the final.

In June he and partner Raviv Weidenfeld won in Ireland, defeating Daniele Braccoalo and Igor Gaudi 7–6, 6–4 in the final.

In July he and Mor won in Greece, defeating Gilles Elseneer and Wim Neefs in the final.

In July 1999 while ranked No. 241 he beat Michael Chang, formerly ranked No 2 in the world, at the Safeway Challenger in Aptos, California.

In August 1999 at Indianapolis he defeated world No. 40 Jiří Novák.

In September he and partner Noam Okun won at Budapest, defeating Daniel Fiala and Leoš Friedl in the final.

He reached the final of the 2000 Toronto Masters and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 30 (June 2001), with his best doubles ranking being World No. 71 in May 2008.

As well as reaching the singles final of the 2000 Toronto Masters, he finished runner-up at Nottingham in 2001 and won a doubles title in Newport, Rhode Island.

In January 2000 he and partner Jonathan Erlich won at Orlando, Florida, defeating Óscar Ortiz and Jimy Szymanski in the final.

In July they won at Newport, Rhode Island, defeating Kyle Spencer and Mitch Sprengelmeyer in the final of the Hall of Fame tennis championships.

In July 2000 at the Tennis Masters Series-Canada tournament in Toronto, while ranked only 144th in the world, he used whiplike ground strokes, a tantalizing drop shot, and winners off his one-handed to beat world No. 73 Martin Damm, No. 47 Stefan Koubek, No. 27 Sébastien Grosjean, No. 61 Jérôme Golmard, and No. 55 Jiří Novák, before losing in the finals to No. 9 Marat Safin.

Levy more than doubled his career earnings with the $211,000 runner-up prize.

Levy completed his three years of military service in the IDF in August 2000.

In a career interrupted first by Israeli Army service and later by serious right hip surgery in 2001, Levy notably scored victories over Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang and Wayne Ferreira.

In March 2001 he upset world No. 10 Tim Henman of Great Britain at Scottsdale.

In May 2001 Levy upset the world's top player, Pete Sampras, at the Italian Open, saving 13 of 17 break points.

In his next match at the tournament, he beat world No. 33 Francisco Clavet, and then whipped Nicolas Kiefer, winning 80% of his first serves.

Levy played down his achievements by joking that he was more depressed by his Israeli soccer team (Maccabi Haifa) losing that week than excited by his success.

"I still like soccer much more than tennis", he shrugged.

In the quarterfinals he subsequently lost to Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra.

In June 2001 Levy upset world No. 17 Wayne Ferreira of South Africa.

He then beat world No. 40 Andy Roddick, with powerful groundstrokes and spinning drop shots, while sustaining a right hip injury.

At one point, Roddick prostrated himself on the court, worshiping with outstretched arms in Levy's direction after Levy had gone up 40–0 on Roddick's serve on three cross-court passes.

"He'd produced three running passing shots in a row", Roddick explained.

"My approach play hadn't been bad. He just came up with power and speed and there was nothing I could do about it at all."

Levy lost in the finals of the Nottingham Tournament in England to Thomas Johansson of Sweden, despite his use of what had become by then his trademark drop volleys.

In late June he retired from his first round Wimbledon match with a hip injury.

Levy was a key factor in Israel's semifinal run in the 2009 Davis Cup.

In September 2017, Levy was named the captain of Israel's Davis Cup team.

Levy was born in Nahshonim, Israel, and is Jewish.

Levy, Noam Okun, and Dudi Sela were Israel's top singles players a number of years, and were among a number of Jewish professional tennis players.

Levy is a good friend of Brazilian tennis champion Gustavo Kuerten, with whom Levy has often been a hitting partner.

Levy is a fan of the soccer team Maccabi Haifa.

Levy began playing tennis at age seven.

His family moved to Portugal for a year and half when he was nine years old.