Yshai Oliel

Yshai Oliel (; born 5 January 2000) is an Israeli tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 305 achieved on 8 August 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 809 achieved on 27 June 2022.

He was the No. 1 Israeli from October 4, 2021, until October 3, 2022.

Oliel is a two-time Junior Orange Bowl champion, having won in 2012 and 2014. He also won the 2016 French Open Boys' Doubles title, with Patrik Rikl. He also reached the final in the boys' singles at the 2017 Australian Open.

Early and personal life Oliel is originally from Ramla, Israel. He is Jewish and his parents, Avraham and Floret Oliel, are of Moroccan Jewish descent. He is the youngest of their five children.

As a teenager he grew long, shoulder-length hair. However, his sister told him it was getting to be too much and that it was time "to be a man", so he cut his hair and donated it to children undergoing cancer treatment.

Oliel is currently in a relationship with Israeli tennis player Roni Lior.

Junior career Oliel started playing tennis at the age of 5. He returned at 13 years of age, ranked first in the tournament, to win the 2014 Junior Orange Bowl in the 14-and-under singles category. That made him one of only nine tennis players to win the Junior Orange Bowl championship twice in its 70-year history, which list includes Andy Murray, Jimmy Connors, Jennifer Capriati, and Monica Seles. Oliel said: "It helped that there were hundreds of Israelis and members of the Jewish community that came along to Roland Garros to cheer me along. I feel very proud to be out there representing Israel."

At the 2016 Junior Boys' singles tournament at the US Open at age 16, after beating No. 2 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia in the second round 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(2), Oliel lost to No. 13 seed Nicola Kuhn of Spain.

As a 16-year-old in September 2016, Oliel was ranked No. 39 among players 18-and-younger. Oliel had hoped to follow in the footsteps of Israeli junior champions Shahar Pe'er, who won the girls' Australian Open in 2004, and Anna Smashnova, who won the girls' French Open in 1991.

Professional career 2017–2018 Later in 2017, Oliel continued to slowly discover the professional circuit and made his first appearance in a Challenger tournament, in Sophia Antipolis for the Verrazzano Open. In December 2017, while still 17 years old, he won his first Futures tournament, in Sajur, Israel. With the victory he became the fourth player in the world born in the year 2000 to win a Futures title, joining Félix Auger-Aliassime, Nicola Kuhn, and Thiago Seyboth Wild. Following a few ITF Men's Circuit tournaments played with promising results in his home country (three semi-finals and a win), he was ranked No. 629 at the end of the 2017 ATP season, which constituted the best ranking of his young career. In March 2018, Oliel reached in the finals of an Israel F2 in Ramat HaSharon, Israel, where he fell to Harri Heliövaara. The next month, Oliel beat world #233 Václav Šafránek.

Oliel made his ATP debut at the 2021 St. Petersburg Open after receiving a wildcard into the main draw. He played John Millman in the first round, but was defeated 6–1, 6–1.

2022: Second ATP tournament In July 2022, Oliel reached the finals of the Marburg, (Germany) Clay M25. On 8 August 2022, he reached a career-high of world No. 305 in singles.

Oliel received a wildcard to his home tournament, the Tel Aviv Open. He lost to qualifier compatriot Edan Leshem in straight sets.

National representation Davis Cup In March 2022, Oliel participated in the Davis Cup representing Israel against South Africa. Oliel played two singles matches and defeated world #34 Lloyd Harris and Ruan Roelofse. Oliel's win over Harris marked the biggest victory in the Israeli's career. Israel went on to defeat South Africa by a score of 3-1 and earned a promotion to the World Group I of the Davis Cup.

Playing style Oliel has been noted for his grace, timing, and tenacity. He has a forehand with a good deal of spin, a stable two-handed backhand, a good volley with excellent touch, and he moves well on the court and reads situations well. Former French Open and Wimbledon women's doubles champion Angela Buxton compared his style to that of Roger Federer, noting that he does not "force or muscle the ball".

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 20 (9–12) LegendATP Challenger (0–0)ITF Futures (8–11)Finals by surfaceHard (8–5)Clay (1–6)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

Doubles: 1 (0–1) LegendATP Challenger (0–0)ITF Futures (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (0–1)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)