 Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |  Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |  Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |  Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |  Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |  Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |  Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |  Photographer: Nir Keidar
Date: 11 Jul 2009 |
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| 11 Jul 2009 - Nokia Stadium, Tel Aviv - Ray Stevens - ISR v RUS | |
| Israel makes history |
Israel advanced to the semifinals of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas for the first time on Saturday after Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich gave them an unassailable 3-0 lead over twice-winners Russia in their World Group quarterfinal at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.
Ram and Erlich thrilled the adoring home supporters in the way they usually do to beat Russia's Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn in a three-hour-51- minute rollercoaster of emotion.
Israel lets slip two-set lead
The highs and lows for both the Israeli players and the capacity 11,000 crowd have probably never been so great, but at the bottom of their hearts they knew their heroes could do it.
Ram and Erlich looked totally dominant by the time Ram was ready to serve for the match at 63 64 5-4, but he was broken and from that point onwards Safin and Kunitsyn took control and raised their level to make it seem as if the tie would remain alive going into Sunday.
Ram's game appeared to fall apart as he was broken in each of the next two sets and both Israeli players' volleying lacked bite. The Russians steadied their ship and simply continued to get the ball into the court, forcing their opponents to make errors, particularly at the net.
Captain Ran confident
"I actually can't describe how I feel... I am so proud to be an Israeli today, to be a part of this team, so proud to be part of this sport and Davis Cup tennis, it was a classic tie," Israel team captain Eyal Ran said.
Ran said he knew his players would win the rubber. "I felt throughout the match that they were the better players on the court so I was confident the whole time... and then they came up with the energy from the crowd and they just did it."
Ran said he hoped that Germany might beat Spain in their semifinal so that Israel could host a tie once more. "I hope that Germany will win so that we can play at home again, everything is possible when we play at home," he added.
Tearful Ram lost for words
Ram, who has teamed up this season on tour with Belarusian Max Mirnyi and is often considered the verbose clown of the Israeli team, said he had run out of words.
"For the first time I have absolutely nothing to say, usually I just can't stop talking and I started to cry like a little boy," he said courtside as the team celebrated with the fans.
Erlich said the win was his best-ever. "I feel great. I think that was my biggest achievement ever... after the team won in Sweden, I said to myself I have to be here, not only in good shape, but in great shape and I'm very, very happy I could achieve that and perform today like I was never (out injured)," Erlich said.
Triumphant return for Erlich
Erlich said his partnership with Ram, which led to them winning the Australian Open crown in 2008 and which was broken when he was sidelined with an elbow injury, would return to become one of the dominant duos on the tour. "I always said that we have great energy together and great things happen for us and I'm so happy we could win it," he said.
Ram credited Erlich: "I didn't play well today, we had hoped we could finish it
in three sets but Yoni (Jonathan) was excellent, I'm so pleased to see him back in form after recovering from his injury."
Israel took a surprise 2-0 lead in the opening singles on Friday when 210th-ranked Harel Levy upset the form book to beat Igor Andreev 64 62 46 62 before Israeli No. 1 Dudi Sela beat Mikhail Youzhny.
The tie concludes with the dead singles rubbers on Sunday reduced to best-of-three sets with the expected line-up being Sela against Andreev followed by Levy against Youzhny.
Israel will play the winners of the quarterfinal tie between defending champions Spain and Germany, and the semifinals take place 18-20 September.
Related Links on other websites
> Information in Hebrew - ITA
> Information in Russian - RTF
Related Links on Daviscup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and statistics from the tie
> Audio interviews from the tie
> Incredible day for Israel
> Tarpischev opts for experience
Related Audio
 Interview with Jonathan Erlich (ISR) - day 2
Interview with Andy Ram (ISR) - day 2
Interview with Israeli captain Eyal Ran - day 2
 
If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
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