Israeli duo ousts Federer-Wawrinka at Olympic doubles
Ram, Erlich beat former Olympic gold medalists in doubles event, advance to quarter-finals
Israeli tennis duo Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich advanced on Wednesday to the quarter-finals of the men's doubles event at the 2012 London Olympics after defeating former Olympic Swiss gold medalists Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
"In the beginning, we were very nervous. You could see it on the court," Ram said. "We just tried not to do as many mistakes as we did in the first set, and we managed to do so, and we kept the level."
Ram and Erlich during match (Photo: Oren Aharoni)
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Federer, who is still in contention for a medal in singles, said after the loss "I thought we played an excellent first set. Conditions were tough. They were breezy, a lot of shadow on the courts. But that didn't disrupt our great playing."
"It was a pity we couldn't create a few more, maybe, opportunities throughout the second set. But obviously they found a bit of a way to get back into the match," he said. "They definitely played better once...all the flags, all the spectator shadows were gone. It was more clean tennis."
Swiss and Israeli teams play friendly game (Photo: Oren Aharoni)
Wawrinka said: "One or two points can change the match, especially on grass courts."
Ram and Erlich, who play the top-seeded Bryan brothers from the US in the quarterfinals, were elated to have faced Federer in doubles.
"It's not that we play him every day," Ram said.
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