Andy Ram

Infobox Tennis biography
playername= Andy Ram


country= flag|Israel
residence= Jerusalem, Israel
datebirth= birth date and age|1980|4|10
placebirth= Flag|Uruguay Montevideo, Uruguay
height= height|m=1.80
weight= convert|82|kg|lb st|abbr=on
turnedpro= 1998
plays= Right; One-handed backhand
careerprizemoney= US$1,634,704
singlesrecord= 4–11
singlestitles= 0
highestsinglesranking= 187 (14 August, 2000)
AustralianOpenresult= DNP
FrenchOpenresult= DNP
Wimbledonresult= 1st (2004)
USOpenresult= DNP
doublesrecord= 200–128
doublestitles= 13
highestdoublesranking= 5 (7 July, 2008)
grandslamsdoublesresults=Yes
AustralianOpenDoublesresult=W (2008)
FrenchOpenDoublesresult=3rd (2004, 2007)
WimbledonDoublesresult=SF (2003)
USOpenDoublesresult=QF (2005)
OthertournamentsDoubles= Yes
MastersCupDoublesresult=RR (2006, 2007)
OlympicsDoublesresult=QF (2004)
updated= 4 August, 2008

Andy Ram ( _he. אנדי רם, born April 10, 1980) is a professional right-handed tennis player from Israel, and the first Israeli tennis player to win a seniors Grand Slam event (mixed doubles title at 2006 Wimbledon Championships together with Vera Zvonareva).

He attained his highest doubles ranking through July 2007, # 9, on May 15, 2006. He reached 24 doubles finals and won 13 of them through 2008, mostly with partner Jonathan Erlich with whom they are known in Israel as AndiYoni.

Background

Ram was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. His mother is Uruguayan and his father, a former professional soccer player, is Israeli, He has an older brother and younger sister. They moved to Israel when he was 5, which is when he began playing tennis. [http://www.protennisfan.com/2006/03/andy_ram_and_jo.html] Ram trained by Ronen Moralli at the Israel Tennis Centers and Wingate Institute. [ [http://www.tennis.org.il/EItcChampions.html ITC Champions] ] It was at Wingate that he first met Jonathan Erlich, his future doubles partner. He became a professional tennis player in 1996 at the age of 16, but did not compete in a Grand Slam tournament until 2001. [ [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881946015&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter Serving up success | Jerusalem Post ] ]

In September 2006, Ram married Shiri, his girlfriend of 10 years.

Ram is known as a fan of the soccer team Beitar Jerusalem FC

Tennis career

2003

In 2003 Ram won the doubles title at the RCA Championship with Croatian Mario Ancic.

With partner Jonathan Erlich, his groundbreaking achievement was their reaching the semifinals of the Wimbledon championships in 2003 as unknown qualifiers. They defeated three seeded opponents en route to the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, in a match in which neither side broke service, Ram and Erlich defeated No. 2 seeded Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor in straight sets: 7–6 (10-8), 7–6 (7–2), 7–6 (9–7). In the semi's, Ram and Erlich - the first Israelis to ever advance to the semifinals in any Grand Slam event - lost to the defending Wimbledon champions, Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge.

Ram reached the 2003 Wimbledon mixed doubles final with Anastassia Rodionova of Russia. The couple lost to tennis legend Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes.

Ram and Jonathan Erlich then won the Thailand Open in September and the Lyon tournament in October 2003. They also won first place in Indianapolis, Istanbul, India, Rotterdam, and Milan.

2004

Ram teamed competed in the mixed doubles event at the 2004 Roland Garros with partner Petra Mandula of Hungary, and made it as far as the quarterfinals where they lost to Daniela Hantuchova and doubles ace Todd Woodbridge.

Ram and Erlich were triumphant yet again in the Lyon International Series tournament in October 2004. They defeated Jonas Björkman and Radek Štěpánek in the final with a 7–6(2), 6–2 victory.

2005

In the 2005 Australian Open Ram paired up with Conchita Martinez of Spain in the mixed doubles event. Martinez and Ram pulled off an impressive coup in the quarterfinals, beating top seeds Daniel Nestor and Rennae Stubbs 7–5, 6–7 (3–7), 7–6 (14-12). They fell in the semifinals to Aussie pair Scott Draper and Samantha Stosur 7–5, 6–3.

Ram and Erlich won their fourth major tournament in Rotterdam in February 2005, beating Czechs Cyril Suk and Pavel Vizner for the honors.

Ram and Erlich missed the 2005 Roland Garros grand slam tournament. Ram's father had died as he was preparing to fly to France.

In August 2005, playing singles he defeated world # 56 Ricardo Mello of Brazil, 6–1, 6–4, at the New Haven International.

Ram and Erlich played in the mixed doubles competition in Wimbledon 2005. They faced Kevin Ullyett and Liezel Huber in the quarterfinals, and were eliminated 6–4, 3–6, 8–6.

They reached 8th place in the doubles race ranking at the end of 2005, and served as alternates at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

2006

He became the first Israeli to win a Grand Slam title in Pro's. He won the 2006 Wimbledon mixed doubles with Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 6–3 against Bob Bryan and Venus Williams. Ram also played with Zvonareva in the 2006 US Open.

In November 2006 he and Erlich defeated the world # 1 ranked Bryan brothers at the Tennis Masters Cup in China, 7–6 (2), 2–6, 6–1.

Ram and Erlich finished 2006 in the top eight, and qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup for the first time.

2007

At the 2007 French Open, Ram, along with his partner, Nathalie Dechy, won the Mixed Doubles competition. Ram and Dechy teamed up together again to compete in the 2007 Wimbledon championships, losing in the third round to 9th-ranked Marcin Matkowski and Cara Black 6–3, 6–4.

At Cincinnati, at the ATP Masters, in August he and Erlich won, upsetting the world # 1 Bryan brothers in the final 4–6, 6–3, 13-11.

At the US Open, he played doubles with Erlich, losing in the round of 16 to the eventual winners Simon Aspelin and Julian Simon, 5–7, 6–7 (4). In mixed doubles with Nathalie Dechy he made it to the quarter finals.

2008

At the 2008 Australian Open Ram and Erlich won the Men's Doubles Championship in straight sets over Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra 7–5, 7–6(4). This was the duo's first Grand Slam win after numerous ATP titles and was also Israel's first ever Grand Slam trophy in Men's Doubles. The duo also won the Masters Series event at Indian Wells, California by defeating the team of Nestor and Zimonic in the finals. They are currently ranked third in the ATP Doubles Race.

Davis Cup

Ram has played on Israel's Davis Cup team in 2001-07, in 2007 winning two matches in Israel's 5–0 win over Luxembourg, and winning his doubles matches in Israel's 3–2 wins over Italy and over Chile (in which he and Erlich defeated Olympic Gold Medal winners Gonzalez and Massu). [http://www.daviscup.com/teams/player.asp?Player=30012264]

Olympics

Erlich and Ram represented Israel at Athens Olympic Games in 2004, and reached the quarterfinals. Ranked 8th overall, in the 1st round they defeated Thomas Enqvist and Robin Soderling of Sweden, 7–5, 6–3, and then beat Russians Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko in the 2nd round, 6–4, 6–1. In the quarterfinals they were defeated by Germans Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schüttler in three sets, 6–2, 2–6, 2–6.

Grand Slams finals (4)

Doubles (1)

Won (1)

Doubles career finals (24)

References

Links

*ATP|id=R399
* [http://www.daviscup.com/teams/player.asp?player=30012264 Davis Cup record]
* [http://www.erlichandram.com/ Official Website]
* [http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:F66W9ks48AoJ:www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Ram.html+Andy+Ram+uruguay&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us Jewish Virtual Library bio]
* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=tennis&ID=107 Jews in Sports bio]

Persondata
NAME = Ram, Andy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = אנדי רם
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Israeli tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH = April 10, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH = Montevideo, Uruguay
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =