Gilad Bloom

Gilad Bloom was born in 1967 in Tel Aviv

Gilad Bloom was born on 1 March 1967 in Tel Aviv and grew up in Ramat HaSharon. As a child he trained at the Israel Tennis Centers in Ramat HaSharon, coached by Shlomo Tzoref. In 1979 he won the world championship for children under 12 in Caracas and reached the final of the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Bloom turned professional in 1983 and played on the ATP tour for 13 years. He won 4 tour doubles titles and was runner-up in 3 singles events. In 1990 he reached the fourth round of the US Open, losing to Ivan Lendl, and he represented Israel at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.

He played Davis Cup for Israel from 1984 to 1995. He won the fifth and deciding match against Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, which sent Israel to the 1994 World Group. He retired from the tour in 1995.

From 1995 he was a senior coach at the Israel Tennis Centers, where his players included Dudi Sela. He moved to New York in 2000 and ran his own tennis program. He was the first Director of Tennis at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy from 2010 to 2012 and then worked at the Club of Riverdale until 2015.

Bloom is married to Michal Bareket-Bloom and has 4 sons. He writes songs, sings and plays guitar in his own rock band, which has played in Manhattan bars since 2009.