No Fans See Israel Surprise Sweden
The first round Davis Cup Tie between Sweden and Israel was played behind the closed doors of the Baltic Hall with only 300 media representatives, sponsors and guests in attendance. The organizers in Malmo, which has a large Muslim community, decided to play the Tie without fans because of concerns about violent protests related to Israel’s recent actions in Gaza. The decision was severely criticized by the International Tennis
Federation and the Israeli players. There were around 1,000 police officers on the streets of Malmo during the Davis Cup weekend and 6,000 protesters demonstrated against Israel's participation in the competition. This was the second time that a Davis Cup tie in Sweden was closed to the public. In 1975, Bjorn Borg and his teammates beat Chile, ruled at the time by dictator Augusto Pinochet, in Bastad. In the end, Israel beat seven-time Davis Cup Champion Sweden 3-2. Harel Levy won the tie for Israel with a dramatic five-set win over Andreas Vinciguerra in the fifth match. It’s unfortunate that such an exciting series of matches was played without the fanfare of a full stadium, but at least the Tie was played.
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