Israeli tennis star Andy Ram showed why he is revered in his homeland by winning three tough matches at the recent Rogers Cup tournament to finish as a doubles finalist.
Ram played with partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus, adding to his landmark achievements at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, where he finished as a finalist in 2005 and a semi-finalist in 2007, both with Jonathan Erlich of Israel.
The only other Israeli who fared as well at the Rogers Cup was Harel Levy, the singles finalist in 2000.
Playing before thousands of spectators, many waving Israeli flags, Ram and Mirnyi delighted fans with lobs, drop shots, volleys and aces, to defeat three opponents before losing in the doubles final.
Along the path to the final, Ram and Mirnyi defeated Raphael Nadal and Franco Rois of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 10-8; Czechs Lukas Dlouhy and Philipp Petzchner 6-2, 6-3; and top-seeded American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6, 6-2 before losing in the final 6-4, 6-3 to Mahesh Brupathni of India and Mark Knowles of Bahamas.
“I love playing in Montreal because the crowd support is so good, and that helped Max [Mirnyi] and I play our best. We are disappointed that we lost the final, but resolve to return next year to win the tournament,” Ram told the crowd at the ceremony awarding prizes to the champions and the finalists.
The Mirnyi/Ram team has partnered for a year since Ram’s regular partner, Jonathan Erlich of Israel, hurt his elbow last fall, keeping him out of action. Mirnyi/Ram moved up from eighth to fifth place in the world doubles rankings because of their performance in Montreal.
“Andy is such a good partner with me because he handles the net well and backs up my serves and volleys. We have very good communication and are friends off the court as well, which only adds to our success,” Mirnyi said after the match.
This year is especially memorable for Ram, who led the Israeli Davis Cup squad to its first berth ever in the semi-final round. Partnering with Erlich, the duo defeated the Russian team of Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4 to clinch the 3-0 sweep of Russia in the Davis Cup quarter-final tie before 10,000 screaming fans in Tel Aviv on July 11.
Israel is currently ranked fourth among Davis Cup nations, yet surpassed the achievements of the American, Australian and Argentine teams that are normally favoured to win the Davis Cup. The Canadian Davis Cup squad is ranked 31st.
“Nothing beats representing your country and winning such a historic match. Along with my other teammates [Harel Levy, Dudi Sela and Erlich], we showed that playing for your country can really raise the level of play. Nobody outside of our team gave us much of a chance to beat the Russians, and we showed what hustle and belief can do,” Ram said.
Ram added that winning for Israel in the Davis Cup means a lot more to him than any of his tournament titles. Ram has won 16 tournaments with four partners, most notably the Australian Open men’s doubles title with Erlich, the French Open mixed doubles title with Natalie Dechy of France and the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Vera Zvonareva of Russia.
Ram also gained fame by becoming the first Israeli to play in the Dubai tennis tournament in February, only one week following the banning of Israeli female tennis star Shahar Peer by the United Arab Emirates, whose government denied her entry to the nation. Women’s Tennis Association officials fined the Dubai tournament $300,000 and compensated Peer both financially and in her rankings.
The men’s tennis association would have boycotted the Dubai tournament had Ram been refused entry into the Dubai tournament.
“It was disgusting to see the politics being played, and I’m glad that justice prevailed and that Shahar [Peer] was compensated and I was able to play in Dubai,” Ram said.
In Montreal, Sela, one of Ram’s teammates for Israel in the Davis Cup, lost his opening round match in singles to Alex Falla of Columbia 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. American qualifier Jesse Levine, an American Jew born in Ottawa, lost his opening round match 6-3, 6-4 to fellow American John Isner.