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Tennis career
1980s
In 1983 Mansdorf won the Asian Junior Championshop in Hong Kong. That same year he turned professional and started his mandatory army service. While he could not train as much during his service as he had would have liked, he was allowed to continue to play on the ATP tour on a limited basis. During his service he played at the demonstration event of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and lost in the first round.
Immediately after completing his service, in November 1986 he beat World No. 5 Henri Leconte 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, in Wembley, United Kingdom. He won his first tour singles title later that month at Johannesburg, beating World No. 10 Andrés Gómez 6–4, 6–4 in the quarterfinals, and defeating the American Matt Anger in the final.
His second singles title came the following year in his hometown of Ramat Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv. In the semifinals he beat World No. 6 Jimmy Connors, 7–6, 6–3, and in the finals he beat World No. 12 Brad Gilbert, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4.
The third title was in January 1988 at Auckland. In March he beat World No. 4 Boris Becker, 6–4, 6–4, in Orlando. In October that year he won the biggest title of his career at the Paris Open (now part of the Tennis Masters Series). He faced the World No. 1 Mats Wilander, but the Swede retired before the tournament began. Mansdorf beat Krickstein and Hlasek, two top 10 players, on his way to the final. He beat Gilbert in the final in straight sets, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3.
He also played at 1988 Olympics in Seoul, where tennis was an official sport, and this time reached the 3rd round (last-16). In March 1989 in Scottsdale he upset World No. 13 Thomas Muster, 7–5, 6–2, and World No. 15 Gilbert 5–7, 6–3, 6–0.
1990s
Mansdorf won another title at Rosmalen in the Netherlands in 1990. In the third round of the US Open in 1990 he beat World No. 8 Brad Gilbert 5–7, 5–7, 6–3, 7–6, 6–1. In September 1991 in Toulouse, he beat World No. 11 Magnus Gustafsson, 6–4, 6–1.
His best performance at a Grand Slam tournament came at the Australian Open in 1992, where he reached the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual champion Jim Courier. In February 1992 in Philadelphia, he upset World No. 3 Michael Stich 7–6(5), 7–5. In January 1993 in Sydney, he beat World No. 13 Carlos Costa 6–1, 5–7, 6–4. He qualified for the 1992 Olympics but had to withdraw because of injury.
Mansdorf's sixth and final career title came in 1993 at Washington, D.C., during which he beat World No. 11 Petr Korda 6–3, 6–3. In July 1994 in Toronto, he beat World No. 8 Todd Martin 6–7(4), 6–3, retired, and in August at Cincinnati he upset Korda (World No. 14) 6–3, 6–3, and Boris Becker (World No. 8), 7–6(1), 6–4.
He reached the fourth round of the US Open and Wimbledon. Mansdorf reached the finals of the U.S. Pro Indoor Championships, but lost to Pete Sampras in the final.
Mansdorf at times displayed a temper. Once, after jumping over the net and pushing an opponent who he thought was cheating, he was suspended for a month.
In addition to his six titles, he reached ten other finals but lost, four of them in Ramat Hasharon. During his career, he won 304 matches and lost 231, and earned prize money of US$2,412,691.
Davis Cup
In Davis Cup, Mansdorf played 10 years and won 22 matches (second-most ever by an Israeli, to Shlomo Glickstein, through 2008) against 25 losses, including a 15-4 record in singles matches on hard courts or carpet.2 He played a major role in Israel's success in this competition, when Israel played 6 years in the world group between 1987 and 1994.
Retirement
Mansdorf retired in 1994. He suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, which did not allow him to practice or play with maximum effort all the time.
2000s
Following his retirement, Mansdorf continued to remain active in Israeli tennis, and is currently the Chairman of the Israel Tennis Center and Israel Tennis Association's program for promising young tennis players.
Between 2000 and 2004, he served as Davis Cup captain. His prime employment is as a diamond seller in Tel Aviv.
References
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