Israel Matzav

Israel reaches Davis Cup semi-finals

For those who missed it, Israel's Davis Cup team, the same team that played and won a match in near-total silence in Sweden in March, has advanced to the tournament's semi-finals by beating Russia over the weekend.

Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich [pictured. CiJ] leapt into each others arms after they guided Israel into the Davis Cup semi-finals for the first time on Saturday.

Israel was the only team to seal a place in the last four following the doubles, while the three other World Group ties hung in the balance after day two of the men's team competition.

Ram and Erlich hung on for almost four hours to beat twice former champions Russia following a thrilling 6-3 6-4 6-7 4-6 6-4 win over Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn in Tel Aviv.

In a year when Israeli tennis players have been barred from playing in countries such as Dubai and forced to play Davis Cup ties behind closed doors, as they were in Sweden, Eyal Ran's men became the toast of the nation on Saturday.

Israel will play Spain in the semi-finals, while Croatia (which beat the United States) will play the Czech Republic in the other semi-final match.

Unreal!

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:28 PM