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Sat., January 26, 2008 Shvat 19, 5768

Israel Time: 01:43 (EST+7)

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Tennis / Australian Open / Triple delight as Israelis get ready for doubles appearances

By Paz Chasdai

MELBOURNE - For the first time ever, three Israelis will be playing on the final days of the 2008 Australian Open, one of the most exciting Grand Slams in recent years.

"It's unbelievable; it's a dream," said Andy Ram, after he and Yoni Erlich defeated India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas 6-4, 6-4 in their men's doubles semifinal yesterday. "Nobody believed that even one of us would reach a final, and now we have three representatives. Yoni and I have been in the top 10 for a number of years already, and our goal was to get to the final, and hopefully also take the title. These are very rare moments in a tennis player's career; you don't get to a Grand Slam final every day."

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"We know that people in Israel are going crazy right now following our success here," Ram told the foreign press. "It is 'tennis month' in Israel right now: We will host Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties; and ours and Shahar [Peer's] advancing to the finals is considered one of the greatest achievements in Israeli sports. I am happy that we are keeping tennis in the headlines."

If you wake up early this morning, at 6 A.M., you can watch Shahar Peer's first appearance in a Grand Slam final since she appeared in the girls' singles final at this exact venue in 2004. Four years ago, she defeated Nicole Vaidisova in two sets and returned to Israel with a kangaroo doll; today she is four years older, No. 17 in the WTA singles rankings, and will in effect be the highest-ranked player in the women's doubles final.

The match, which will be played in Rod Laver Arena, features Peer and her Belarusian partner, Victoria Azarenka (No. 25 in the WTA singles rankings), up against sisters Alona (21) and Kateryna (43) Bondarenko of Ukraine.

A short while later, Ram and Nathalie Dechy of France wil face India's Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi in the mixed doubles final.

However, Ram's focus will be on tonight, when he and Erlich compete in their first Grand Slam final together.

"It's a wonderful feeling; we have been waiting for this for a long time," said Erlich. "Even though we have played at the highest level for a number of years already, it took a very long time for this day to come."

Since they reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon four-and-a-half years ago, Ram and Erlich have not advanced past the third round at a Grand Slam, except for one U.S. Open quarterfinal appearance.

"We decided to begin this season with a big push, to play aggressively and make a big leap," added Erlich. "We don't want to be merely at the top; we want to begin to take control and be more dominant this time around. I told Andy that we had to enter the game on fire, with a lot of energy. [Knowles and Bhupathi] finished their game yesterday late at night, and we knew that we had to take advantage of that and attack them from the get-go."

The decisive factor was converting break points - the Israelis were 2-for-5, but their opponents went 0-for-6.

"We did not let them breathe," said Erlich, "and our advantage early on gave us a lot of confidence, and it took the wind out their sails."

Ram and Erlich will face France's Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement in the final.

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