Tennis: Sweden beats Israel 3-2 in Davis Cup
Jonas Bjorkman defeats Harel Levy in four sets to give Sweden Davis Cup world group first-round victory
Doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman beat Israel's Harel Levy in four sets on Sunday to give Sweden a 3-2 win in their Davis Cup world group first-round tie.
The 35-year-old Swede came back from losing the first set 0-6 to win the next three 6-4 6-3 7-6 in the final reverse singles.
Harel Levy during match against Bjorkman (Photo: Eli Elgarat)
Sweden went into Sunday's reverse singles needing to win both matches. Thomas Johansson started the day by beating Israel's Dudi Sela 7-6 6-1 7-5.
Sweden will meet Argentina in the quarter-finals in April.
On Saturday, Australian Open doubles champs Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich beat Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 in a Davis Cup World Group first-round.
In top form. Ram and Erlich (Photo: AP)
On Friday, Israel's Dudi Sela and Sweden's Thomas Johansson both scored straight-sets wins.
Israeli number one Sela struggled in the first set against veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman before winning 7-6 6-3 6-1 while Johansson had an easier victory over Israeli number two Harel Levy, winning 6-1 6-1 6-3.
Sela, 22, gave the home crowd plenty to cheer in a match which started as a tight contest. He won the opening-set tiebreak 10-8, saving two set points in the process.
He then breezed through the second and third sets as Bjorkman, 35, grew tired in his first match back after a long break following the birth of his daughter.
Sela. 'I played really well' (Photo: Reuters)
Former Australian Open champion Johansson never looked threatened by Levy, who was making his return to the Davis Cup side after a three-year absence.
The 32-year-old Swede was better in every department and forced Levy into many unforced errors.
"I'm very happy with the way I played today. Harel didn't have his best day," Johansson said.
"I never really got into the match," Levy said. "Johansson is a very cool player and it will be very difficult to beat him here."
Bjorkman. 'Rain delay benefitted Sela' (Photo: Nir Cohen)
Bjorkman appeared to have the momentum in a first set in which each player lost their serve four times, but a 45-minute rain delay gave the Israeli renewed impetus.
"I played really well after we came back from the rain break, with very high percentages," said Sela, ranked four places above Bjorkman at 67th in the world.
Bjorkman agreed that the rain delay had helped Sela.
"I think it benefited him a bit because he had time to go back to the locker room and get some advice from his coaches," Bjorkman said.
