Yet another Israeli world champion; this time in doubles tennis. Andy Ram and Yoni (Jonathan) Erlich became the men’s doubles champions at the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon in France this past Sunday (October 12). The Israelis defeated Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut of France, 6-1, 6-3. Ram and Erlich are now ranked 16th in the world for men’s tennis doubles. Each of them was awarded 21,000 euros for their victory.
The day before the tremendous Israeli success in Lyon, the Israeli national soccer team was defeated by the French national team 3-0. Ram was watching the game: “The French were laughing at us. Benneteau came in, the one we played against in the finals, and he started to laugh, too. I looked at Yoni and we wanted to eat them for breakfast.” In the end, Ram said, satisfied, “we slaughtered them, and on their own court in front of their own home crowd.”
Andy Ram told IDF Radio that the pair is looking forward to the Olympics, even though it is not certain that they will make it into that competition. In any event, “the next goal is to take Wimbledon,” he said. In July, Erlich and Ram competed in the Wimbledon semi-finals, losing only to the eventual winners, Bjorkman and Woodbridge.
The pair’s careers are also stories of immigrant success to a certain degree. Ram, who was raised in Jerusalem, made aliyah from Uruguay with his family at the age of five and Erlich immigrated with his family from Argentina as a one-year old baby.
The day before the tremendous Israeli success in Lyon, the Israeli national soccer team was defeated by the French national team 3-0. Ram was watching the game: “The French were laughing at us. Benneteau came in, the one we played against in the finals, and he started to laugh, too. I looked at Yoni and we wanted to eat them for breakfast.” In the end, Ram said, satisfied, “we slaughtered them, and on their own court in front of their own home crowd.”
Andy Ram told IDF Radio that the pair is looking forward to the Olympics, even though it is not certain that they will make it into that competition. In any event, “the next goal is to take Wimbledon,” he said. In July, Erlich and Ram competed in the Wimbledon semi-finals, losing only to the eventual winners, Bjorkman and Woodbridge.
The pair’s careers are also stories of immigrant success to a certain degree. Ram, who was raised in Jerusalem, made aliyah from Uruguay with his family at the age of five and Erlich immigrated with his family from Argentina as a one-year old baby.