Ram, Erlich. Eye on the prize
צילום: איי פי
A day of celebration
Israeli tennis team gives its all as it makes it to Davis Cup World Group
The Israeli national tennis team assured its place in the Davis Cup's World Group this Sunday, for the first time since 1994.
For three days the team gave its all, with the shortest match – Noam Okun versus Fernando Gonzalez – taking some three and a half hours.
Yoni Erlich and Andy Ram's doubles match and Dudi Sela's two singles took more than five hours to be decided.
The Israeli tennis team demonstrated maturity, determination and an overall joie de vivre, giving the audience – which was more than happy to cheer them on – much pleasure.
Supported by the outpour of love from the bleachers, the team was able to perform on a level rarely seen before by the Israeli delegates to the Davis Cup.
In my four years as captain of the Israeli national tennis team, I have encountered both Noam Okun and Dudi Sela – the former as a team mate and the latter as he just joined us.
Andy and Yoni were beginning their partnership then and have gone on to become one of the world's most successful doubles teams.
The team, I always felt, had what it takes to make it into the Davis finals, but over the years we were too busy simply surviving the tournament to have our eye on the finals.
Israeli tennis players have a lot of people working for hem on a daily basis, hoping they will maximize their potential.
This is where we stop to say thank you. This is where we look at our team with pride, knowing we have many more of these joyous moments ahead of us.
