The Great Scottish Hope
By Sports Magician

Andy Murray, right? Not quite. One day you're earning your living as a dispensing optician and then you find yourself being paraded in front of a crowd totalling at least 40,000. Doesn’t happen, right? It does, actually. The Maccabiah is an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics held in Israel every four years. The Games are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and the World Federation of Sports and are widely regarded as the third largest sporting event in the world. The 2009 Games featured participants from over fifty countries in over thirty different sports and Sports Magician caught up with Adam Glekin, a 25 year old representative of the Scottish tennis team, to talk about his journey and experiences at the Maccabiah.

Priceform: So tell me, Adam, how did this all start?

Adam Glekin: I've known about the Games for quite a long time. My Dad has played bridge in the last two Maccabiahs and he is playing golf for the 2009 Games. I’m always around the Jewish sports scene – my Sunday league football side is in a Jewish league. I considered entering as soon as I found out Scotland were sending their own team. I knew I wouldn’t be at the level required to make the England squad (Adam is a Scot living in England) but as there are only around 4,000 Jews in Scotland I knew I’d stand a greater chance of making it. I went up to Glasgow for trials and it all went from there.



Priceform: Preceding the Games, what was your background in tennis as a player?

Adam Glekin: I didn’t start playing tennis properly until I was 16, and I never got any coaching. I was very much self-taught and soon became the best player at my school. When I went to University, I fell into the trap of too much partying and playing tennis at any level took a seat on the backburner. I also liked the odd flutter, so it’s kind of fitting that this interview should be on Priceform! I got back into tennis again at the age of 22 and started playing some minor tournaments. It hasn’t been until the past year where I have really started to step my game up.

Priceform: Describe your training regime in the build up to the Games?

Adam Glekin: Working five days a week, it wasn’t always easy, but for the most part I did exercise everyday of the week. I’d make sure I got in three tennis matches a week and in addition played football as well as trips to the gym. I was doing 10km runs and my best time was just under 50 minutes. I’m in the best shape of my life. On the technical side of things, my array of tennis shots aren’t usually found in your average manual, so I decided to get some professional assistance. I took up sessions with Chris Harfield (a former ATP professional ranked in the top 1300); he helped me a lot although it is fair to say my technique is still flawed to an extent. In the main I’ve just had to rely on natural talent. I know that sounds a bit arrogant, but since I’m talking to you (Sports Magician), I know you won’t mind!

Most of the players at the Maccabiah have been receiving coaching since the age of 5. All of the USA team play College tennis and hit for five hours a day. The Israeli players are young and playing on the Futures tour with the aim of becoming pros. The Chile, Germany and Brazil squads all have players who have been ranked inside the world’s top 1000. So I knew that I would have to punch well above my weight to have any success at the Games.

The biggest issue for me on the training front was that I picked up an injury to my shoulder which meant I had to change my service motion only one month before the Games began. It was far from ideal and contributed heavily to my ordinary serving displays.

Priceform: I know you were looking forward to the Opening Ceremony; did it surpass your expectations?

Adam Glekin: It was amazing, one of the best experiences of my life. It ranks up there with Spurs beating the ‘Scum’ (Arsenal) 5-1 (if you hadn’t picked it up, Adam is an avid Spurs fan). All the different countries were wearing their colours, it was an amazing spectacle. The whole Scotland squad were in kilts (a small squad of just 13). Before we went into the stadium itself we were held in a field for several hours and there were many photo requests. Going into the stadium was unreal, the fact there were only 13 of us made it better, because when you are in a squad of 700 (like England) I don’t think it has the same appeal. The fans loved the kilts but I didn’t really know what to do, so I just waved and danced. It was totally surreal. There must have been 40,000 fans in the stadium, but I’ve also heard that the number might have been closer to 50,000. After we walked in the athletes congregated on the pitch and there were many exchanges of shirts between the athletes. I got an Argentina shirt. I must have had about 10,000 requests for the kilt, but since we had them out on hire and they cost £800 to buy, there was no way I could consider exchanging it. All in all I felt a mixture of emotions ranging from proud, nervous, overwhelmed and of course excitable.



Priceform: What were the facilities like at the Games?

Adam Glekin: We didn’t have an Olympic Village as such; it was just a huge hotel (the Shalom Hotel in Jerusalem). Everyone competing in tennis, karate, taekwondo, fencing and softball were there. The rest of the sports are spread throughout Israel in Tel Aviv and Haifa. The hotel was standard but satisfactory. The organisation was not the best, coaches leaving for the tennis centre were infrequent and never on time. Going to any of the events was always chaotic.

Priceform: How much media attention have you had out there?

Adam Glekin: Most of the media attention has been focused on Jason Lezak, the USA Olympic gold medal winning swimmer, who is participating at the Maccabiah instead of at the World Championships. The tennis centre has received a lot of attention from journalists and photographers and my brother (who keeps calling himself my coach) has been talking with them frequently, even more than I have and I’m the one playing! It has been a bit nerve wracking, especially when a camera is just shoved in your face at close quarters, but I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed the attention.

Priceform: Away from the court, how have you spent time relaxing?

Adam Glekin: I’ve done some sightseeing in Jerusalem and spent some nights out in Tel Aviv as well as cheering my Dad on in Caesaria. I haven’t seen much of the Scottish team since the opening ceremony because they are based pretty far away. The Americans and English stick amongst themselves a lot, which I guess is a by-product of the huge squads they have brought with them. I’ve been hanging out mainly with the French, Brazilian, Italian, Swiss, Slovakian and Canadian contingents. Everyone is really friendly and just wants to enjoy themselves. Even though the competition is serious, a lot of us are just enjoying the experience. The hotel also arranges optional nights out and tours which is nice.

Priceform: Who came out to support you at the Games?

Adam Glekin: My coach couldn’t come out to Israel, but he was a big help and support to me beforehand. I have a lot of family who have come to support me while having a holiday at the same time – my Mum, Stepdad, Girlfriend’s Brother, Stepsister, Grandmother and of course my Dad is here playing golf. I’ve also got some friends here in Jerusalem who have come to my training sessions and matches.



Priceform: We’ve covered the build up to the Games and much of what was going on around it, but now for the business on the court, talk me through your singles and doubles matches?

Adam Glekin: In singles competition I was fortunate to get a bye in the first round. In the second round I wasn’t so fortunate, as I had to face Raul Valdes from Chile. He’s former pro who played Davis Cup for Chile and trained with Marcelo Rios (former world number one). He also gave guys like Fernando Gonzalez very close matches in his early days and still plays all the time as well as coaches. I lost 6-2, 6-1. I thought I’d be nervous but I started well and we were at 2-2 early in the first set. Then my game fell away, particularly on serve. My first serve percentage plummeted and I served too many double faults. I didn’t hold serve for the rest of the match but I was able to break once in the second set. He was a lefty and a typical South American clay courter; I struggled with his kick-serve to my backhand and his loopy forehand to my single-hander. Overall I was pleased with my effort and the score was maybe better than I had expected.

Pricefom: At that point was your singles participation completely over?

Adam Glekin: No, there was a consolation draw. I was pitted against Stuart Levy from Great Britain. This was my biggest disappointment as it was a match I really thought I might be able to win. For some reason I just came out flat, I can’t explain why. He was a solid player and hit consistently deep balls to my backhand and I kept making errors. It was really frustrating and I eventually picked up a warning from the umpire. I lost 6-2, 6-2.

Priceform: And doubles?

Adam Glekin: My doubles partner was Peter Lager from Slovakia. Again, the draw was not kind, as we were pitted against Raul Valdes (my singles opponent from the main draw) and Ron Liebkind from Finland. We didn’t play well at all, and to be honest my partner was the weak link during the match, but we were outplayed in every department so we could have no complaints about the 6-1, 6-1 defeat.

Priceform: Despite the results, how would you assess your time at the Maccabiah?

Adam Glekin: Overall it has been awesome. Even if I had come here and not won a point, it would still have been worth it. I’m going to take the positives out of the whole experience and keep on improving my game. There is a similar tournament for European Jews in Vienna in 2011, and I have my eyes firmly fixed on that event. When I get back home I will start to enter more tournaments and try to become as good as I can in preparation for 2011 and hopefully have more success.