US Open champion honours Paul Arber
AUSTRALIAN Omar Jasika, 2014 US Open Junior Singles and Doubles Champion, has dedicated his victories at Flushing Meadows to Maccabi Tennis Club legend Paul Arber
AUSTRALIAN Omar Jasika, 2014 US Open Junior Singles and Doubles Champion, has dedicated his victories at Flushing Meadows to Maccabi Tennis Club legend Paul Arber, who died in September last year while escorting young tennis players to a tournament in New Zealand.
Jasika lives nearby to Maccabi’s Leon Haskin Tennis Centre in Bentleigh East and as a youngster used to practise daily on the courts.
During his days as a Maccabi coach, Arber mentored a young Jasika, filling in for Jasika’s coach (also his father) when he couldn’t make the session.
The pair remained close over the years, even as Jasika relocated his training to Melbourne Park and Arber became a regular fixture on the Tennis Australia coaching roster.
After Jasika recorded the highlight of his short career at the US Open, the 17-year-old made the following statement on Facebook: “At a time of great happiness in my life, I would like to take a moment to remember someone special, who was a close friend and mentor of mine, Paul Arber.
“He often talked about the US Open and how I could maybe play there one day if I practised hard enough. When I was competing in New York I remembered those words and it helped me.
“I would like to dedicate my recent US Open victory to you Paul and the many memories we had together when I was younger.”
Just a few days after returning from the US, Jasika was present at last weekend’s Maccabi Tennis Club Championship.
While his mother, Sabina, tended to the canteen she has run for the past five years, the junior champ rallied with young Maccabi players, as proud club members offered their congratulations.
Meanwhile, in the final event from Maccabi’s Club Championships, Jason Slomoi and Noah Winik defeated Josh Duieb and Brad Lowe 4-6 6-3 7-6 for the boys’ under-13 doubles title.
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