Andy Ram in 2006.
April 10, 1980 |
|Height||1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)|
|Weight||82 kg (180 lb; 12.9 st)|
|Plays||Right-handed (one-handed backhand)|
|Highest ranking||No. 187 (August 14, 2000)|
|Grand Slam Singles results|
|Highest ranking||No. 5 (July 7, 2008)|
|Current ranking||No. 110 (May 6, 2013)|
|Grand Slam Doubles results|
|Australian Open||W (2008)|
|French Open||SF (2010)|
|US Open||SF (2009)|
|Other Doubles tournaments|
|Tour Finals||F (2009)|
|Olympic Games||QF (2004)|
|Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results|
|Australian Open||F (2009)|
|French Open||W (2007)|
Last updated on: October 25, 2012.
Andy Ram (Hebrew: אנדי רם; born April 10, 1980) is an Israeli professional tennis player, and the first Israeli tennis player to win a seniors Grand Slam event (mixed doubles title at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, together with Vera Zvonareva). He plays more doubles than singles as he prefers doubles more and wins more matches. He uses a Wilson racquet and is sponsored by Fila for his attire.
He attained his highest doubles ranking through July 2009, # 5, in July 2008. He reached 28 doubles finals and won 15 of them through 2008, mostly with partner Jonathan Erlich; together, they are known in Israel as "AndiYoni".
Ram, born in Montevideo, Uruguay, is Jewish. His father Amiram, a former professional soccer player for Betar Jerusalem in the 1950s, is Israeli. After his father was injured he was sent to Uruguay on "shlihut" ("outreach"), and it was there that he met Ram's mother, who is Uruguayan. He has an older brother and a younger sister. They moved to Jerusalem, Israel when he was 5, which is when he began playing tennis. "It was tough at the beginning because I couldn't speak the language, and was fighting with people in the kindergarten who didn't understand me", said Ram. "My parents decided to send me to the tennis center not long after we arrived."
"I really enjoyed playing tennis, because when I was six or seven years old and winning tournaments it felt good", said Ram. "From when I was 8 or 10 I knew it was going to be a career for me. It's a tennis life so it wasn't so easy. You have to give up many things. When all my friends were playing outside I had to practice. I didn't go to all the school trips. But I was focused from a very young age. I grew up practicing at the Jerusalem tennis center. I spent most of my childhood there, practicing five days a week. I never regretted it and I enjoyed every moment. Now I am reaping the rewards."
Ram was trained by Ronen Moralli at the Israel Tennis Centers in Jerusalem. "My first inspiration was Jo Jo Lizmi, the famous Jerusalem tennis coach, who showed me all the basic techniques. I was with him four or five years and he taught me everything – how to hold the racket, forehand, and backhand. He was very tough." "But the man who really developed my game was Ronen Moralli", says Ram. "He was with me in Jerusalem from when I was 10 years old, but then he moved to Wingate as the national coach." Moralli recalls: "When I worked with Andy at the Jerusalem Tennis Center he was very very energetic and full of passion. His technical abilities weren't as good as the other kids, but he had an understanding of the game. It was something spectacular. He knew when to come to the net, when to stay back. This is something you are born with. Either you have it or you don't. You can teach it, but only up to a certain point, and Andy was born with it."
When he was 15 he was sent to the Wingate Institute, where young Israeli athletes are groomed to become professionals. "It wasn't easy being far away from your family", Ram remembers, "but you know it is going to be your profession and that's what you are going to try to do for life. You practice twice a day and fit in school in between." He became a professional tennis player in 1996, at the age of 16, but did not compete in a Grand Slam tournament until 2001 when he appeared in the Wimbledon doubles with Erlich.
It was at Wingate that he first met Jonathan Erlich, his future doubles partner who has also been born in South America. Ram said: "We have known each other for many years. When he was 17 we met at Wingate and ever since we have been practicing together. We grew up together and we complete each other off and on court – the first rule of doubles is communication." He adds: "Yoni and I are very proud of being Israelis. They love us all around the world, and there is a big Jewish community around the world that supports us.... All over the world it is like this. When we go to Beijing even the Chinese Jews cheer for us."
In 2002 Ram was injured, and did not play because he had knee surgery and back surgery. He was on crutches for two months, could not walk, and considered giving up tennis."
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, 7–6, 7–6. In the semis, 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 felt at that point that he had to choose whether to focus on doubles or singles, as he felt it would be tough to combine the two. He chose to concentrate on doubles.
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.
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 Hantuchová 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, 6–2 victory.
In the 2005 Australian Open Ram paired up with Conchita Martínez 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, 7–6. 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 Vízner for the honors. They missed the 2005 Roland Garros grand slam tournament, as Ram's father had died as he was preparing to fly to France.
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.
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. In mixed doubles with Nathalie Dechy he made it to the quarter finals.
At the 2008 Australian Open Ram and Erlich won the Men's Doubles Championship in straight sets over Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra 7–5, 7–6. 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. After Erlich's injury, Ram was playing with other partners and won indoor titles in Vienna (with Max Mirnyi) and Lyon (with Llodra).
At the 2009 Australian Open Ram and Nathalie Dechy, unseeded at the start of the tournament, defeated two seeded pairs and reached the finals where lost to another unseeded pair, Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupati from India, 3–6, 1–6. Later Ram won Miami Masters tournament with Mirnyi after reaching finals in Indian Wells Masters. Ram has partnered Jonathan Erlich once again at Israel Open ATP Challenger tournament in Ramat Hasharon in May but after losing in the final he announced his decision to keep partnering Mirnyi till the end of 2009 season (with the exception of Davis Cup game against Russia where he will partner Erlich).
He partnered with Julian Knowle for the French Open. They reached the SF, which was the best result for either player at Roland Garros.
Ram has played on the Israel Davis Cup team in 2001–09, going 14–8 through July 2009. In 2007 he won two matches in Israel's 5–0 win over Luxembourg, and he won his doubles matches in Israel's 3–2 wins over Italy and over Chile (in which he and Erlich defeated Olympic Gold Medal winners González and Massú). In 2008, Ram and Erlich won their doubles match against Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt in Israel's 3–2 loss to Sweden in the World group, and then Ram partnering Harel Levy defeated the Peruvian duo Mauricio Echazu/Matias Silva on the way to Israel's 4–1 victory, granting Israel a place in the World Group for the next season. In March 2009, partnering Amir Hadad, Ram lost in Malmö to the same Swedish pair he defeated a year earlier, but the Israeli team won 3–2 overall and proceeded to the World Group quarterfinal.
Israel (ranked 8th in the Davis Cup standings, with 5,394 points) hosted heavily favored Russia (which won in both 2002 and 2006, and was the top-ranked country in Davis Cup standings, with 27,897 points) in a Davis Cup quarterfinal tie in July 2009, on indoor hard courts at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. Israel was represented by Ram, Erlich, Dudi Sela, and Harel Levy. Russia's lineup consisted of Marat Safin (# 24 in the world; former world # 1), Igor Andreev (26), Igor Kunitsyn (35), and Mikhail Youzhny (44; former world # 8). The stage was set by Safin, who prior to the tie told the press: "With all due respect, Israel was lucky to get to the quarterfinals." The Israeli team's response was to beat the Russian team in each of their first three matches, thereby winning the tie. Levy, world # 210, beat Russia's top player, Andreev, world # 24, 6–4, 6–2, 4–6, 6–2 in the opening match. Sela (# 33) followed by beating Russian Youzhny 3–6, 6–1, 6–0, 7–5. Israeli captain Eyal Ran likened his players to two fighter jets on court, saying: "I felt as if I had two F-16s out there today, they played amazingly well." The 10,500 spectators were the largest crowd ever for a tennis match in Israel. The next day Ram and Erlich beat Safin and Kunitsyn 6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 4–6, 6–4 in front of a boisterous crowd of over 10,000. "I started to cry like a little boy", said Ram. Even the Saudi Gazette described the doubles match as a "thrilling" win. Captain Ran was carried shoulder-high around the Tel Aviv stadium, as the 10,000-strong crowd applauded. With the tie clinched for Israel, the reverse singles rubbers were "dead", and instead of best-of-five matches, best-of-three sets were played, with the outcomes of little to no importance. Israel wrapped up a 4–1 victory over Russia, as Levy defeated Kunitsyn 6–4, 4–6, 7–6, while Sela retired with a wrist injury while down 3–4 in the first set against Andreev. Ram said: "We have all grown up together since the age of 14. The reason we are in the semis is because we are a united team."
Israel will next face the Spanish Davis Cup team in Marbella, Spain on September 18–20, in Israel's first appearance in the Davis Cup semifinals. Spain won the tie within 2 days. With the tie clinched for Spain, the reverse singles rubbers were "dead", and instead of best-of-five matches, best-of-three sets were played, with the outcomes of little to no importance. Spain wrapped up a 4–1 victory over Israel,
Erlich and Ram represented Israel at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and reached the quarterfinals. Ranked 8th overall, in the 1st round they defeated Thomas Enqvist and Robin Söderling 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.
They also represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 1 (1–0)
|Outcome||Year||Championship||Surface||Partner||Opponents in the final||Score in the final|
|Winner||2008||Australian Open||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Arnaud Clément
Mixed doubles: 4 (2–2)
|Outcome||Year||Championship||Surface||Partner||Opponents in the final||Score in the final|
|Runner-up||2003||Wimbledon||Grass||Anastasia Rodionova|| Martina Navratilova
|Winner||2006||Wimbledon||Grass||Vera Zvonareva|| Venus Williams
|Winner||2007||French Open||Clay||Nathalie Dechy|| Katarina Srebotnik
|Runner-up||2009||Australian Open||Hard||Nathalie Dechy|| Sania Mirza
ATP career finals
Doubles: 36 (20–16)
|Outcome||No.||Date||Tournament||Surface||Partner||Opponent in the final||Score in the final|
|Winner||1.||July 27, 2003||Indianapolis, United States||Hard||Mario Ančić|| Diego Ayala
|2–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–5|
|Winner||2.||September 29, 2003||Bangkok, Thailand||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Jarkko Nieminen
|Winner||3.||October 13, 2003||Lyon, France||Carpet||Jonathan Erlich|| Nicolas Mahut
|Runner-up||1.||January 11, 2004||Chennai, India||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Rafael Nadal
|6–7(3–7), 6–4, 3–6|
|Runner-up||2.||February 22, 2004||Rotterdam, Netherlands||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Paul Hanley
|7–5, 6–7(5–7), 5–7|
|Winner||4.||October 11, 2004||Lyon, France||Carpet||Jonathan Erlich|| Radek Štěpánek
|Winner||5.||February 25, 2005||Rotterdam, Netherlands||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Cyril Suk
|6–4, 4–6, 6–3|
|Winner||6.||June 20, 2005||Nottingham, England||Grass||Jonathan Erlich|| Simon Aspelin
|4–6, 6–3, 7–5|
|Runner-up||3.||July 31, 2005||Los Angeles, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Rick Leach
|Runner-up||4.||August 13, 2005||Toronto, Canada||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Wayne Black
|7–6(7–5), 3–6, 0–6|
|Runner-up||5.||October 2, 2005||Bangkok, Thailand||Hard (i)||Jonathan Erlich|| Paul Hanley
|6–5(7–5), 1–6, 2–6|
|Runner-up||6.||October 16, 2005||Vienna, Austria||Hard (i)||Jonathan Erlich|| Mark Knowles
|Winner||7.||January 9, 2006||Adelaide, Australia||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Paul Hanley
|Runner-up||7.||February 26, 2006||Rotterdam, Netherlands||Hard (i)||Jonathan Erlich|| Paul Hanley
|Runner-up||8.||May 13, 2006||Rome, Italy||Clay||Jonathan Erlich|| Mark Knowles
|4–6, 7–5, [11–13]|
|Winner||8.||June 26, 2006||Nottingham, England||Grass||Jonathan Erlich|| Igor Kunitsyn
|Winner||9.||August 28, 2006||New Haven, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Mariusz Fyrstenberg
|Winner||10.||October 2, 2006||Bangkok, Thailand||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Andy Murray
|6–2, 2–6, [10–4]|
|Runner-up||9.||March 4, 2007||Las Vegas, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Bob Bryan
|Runner-up||10.||March 18, 2007||Indian Wells, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Martin Damm
|Runner-up||11.||August 5, 2007||Washington, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Bob Bryan
|6–7(5–7), 6–3, [7–10]|
|Winner||11.||August 19, 2007||Cincinnati, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Bob Bryan
|4–6, 6–3, [13–11]|
|Winner||12.||January 26, 2008||Melbourne, Australia||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Arnaud Clément
|Winner||13.||March 21, 2008||Indian Wells, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Daniel Nestor
|Runner-up||12.||August 3, 2008||Cincinnati, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Bob Bryan
|6–4, 6–7(2–7), [7–10]|
|Winner||14.||October 12, 2008||Vienna, Austria||Hard (i)||Max Mirnyi|| Philipp Petzschner
|Winner||15.||October 26, 2008||Lyon, France||Carpet||Michaël Llodra|| Stephen Huss
|6–3, 5–7, [10–8]|
|Runner-up||13.||February 22, 2009||Marseille, France||Hard (i)||Julian Knowle|| Arnaud Clément
|6–3, 3–6, [8–10]|
|Runner-up||14.||March 22, 2009||Indian Wells, United States||Hard||Max Mirnyi|| Mardy Fish
|6–3, 1–6, [12–14]|
|Winner||16.||April 5, 2009||Miami, United States||Hard||Max Mirnyi|| Ashley Fisher
|6–7(4–7), 6–2, [10–7]|
|Runner-up||15.||August 15, 2009||Montréal, Canada||Hard||Max Mirnyi|| Mahesh Bhupathi
|Runner-up||16.||November 14, 2010||Paris, France||Hard (i)||Mark Knowles|| Mahesh Bhupathi
|Winner||17.||June 20, 2011||Eastbourne, United Kingdom||Grass||Jonathan Erlich|| Grigor Dimitrov
|Winner||18.||August 27, 2011||Winston-Salem, United States||Hard||Jonathan Erlich|| Christopher Kas
|Winner||19.||May 6, 2012||Belgrade, Serbia||Clay||Jonathan Erlich|| Martin Emmrich
|4–6, 6–2, [10–6]|
Doubles performance timeline
|Australian Open||A||A||1R||A||2R||3R||2R||3R||W||2R||1R||2R||1R||1 / 10||13–9|
|French Open||A||A||A||A||3R||A||2R||3R||3R||1R||SF||1R||2R||0 / 8||12–8|
|Wimbledon||A||2R||A||SF||1R||3R||3R||2R||QF||3R||3R||1R||2R||0 / 11||17–11|
|US Open||A||1R||A||1R||1R||QF||3R||3R||2R||SF||1R||2R||2R||0 / 11||14–11|
|Win–Loss||0–0||1–2||0–1||4–2||3–4||5–3||6–4||7–4||12–3||7–4||6–4||2–4||3–4||1 / 40||56–39|
|ATP Masters Series|
|Indian Wells||A||A||A||A||2R||2R||1R||F||W||F||QF||2R||1 / 8||17–7|
|Miami||A||A||A||A||2R||QF||SF||1R||1R||W||1R||QF||1 / 8||13–7|
|Monte Carlo||A||A||A||A||2R||A||2R||2R||QF||QF||1R||1R||0 / 7||2–7|
|Rome||A||A||A||A||1R||1R||F||2R||2R||QF||1R||A||0 / 7||4–7|
|Madrid (Stuttgart)||A||A||A||A||1R||1R||QF||1R||1R||2R||QF||1R||0 / 8||3–8|
|Canada||A||A||A||A||QF||F||2R||SF||2R||F||2R||A||0 / 7||10–7|
|Cincinnati||A||A||A||A||QF||1R||SF||W||F||2R||QF||A||1 / 7||13–6|
|Shanghai||Not Held||2R||1R||A||0 / 2||1–2|
|Paris||A||A||A||A||A||QF||1R||1R||QF||2R||F||1R||0 / 7||6–7|
|Hamburg||A||A||A||A||1R||1R||QF||SF||2R||NM1||0 / 5||3–5|
|Win–Loss||0–0||0–0||0–0||0–0||6–8||8–8||10–9||12–8||10–8||15–8||8–9||3–5||3 / 66||66–63|
|Year End Ranking||178||103||494||31||32||15||13||18||5||9||23||51|
Ram was awarded the 2006 accept the inaugural Jerusalem Athlete of the Year award in 2006.
In September 2006, Ram married Shiri, his girlfriend for 10 years, and he lives in Tel Aviv. 
- "Roads' Beth David Congregation to honor Jewish, Israeli Sony Ericsson players; A congregation will recognize Jewish and Israeli tennis players in the Sony Ericsson Open," The Miami Herald, 3/22/09; accessed 6/4/09
- Blas, Howard, "Jewish players stop in New Haven on the way to U.S. Open," The Jewish Ledger, 8/27/08; accessed 6/4/09
- Blas, Howard (August 30, 2006). ":". The Jewish Ledger. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- March 27, 2006 (March 27, 2006). "Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich". Pro Tennis Fan. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- Nik Petrovic (2006-07-15). "Trophy double for Erlich and Ram – nottingham.lta.org.uk". Web.archive.org. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
- "Israel Tennis Center". Web.archive.org. October 10, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- Serving up success|Jerusalem Post
- "Mailbag – Jon Wertheim: Becker's place in history". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. July 28, 2003. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- Johnson, William (July 5, 2003). "Woodbridge is closing in on Okker's record of 78 titles". Telegraph. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Navratilova wins record 20th Wimbledon title in mixed doubles". Usatoday.Com. July 6, 2003. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Hewitt aims for semi-final berth". theage.com.au. June 2, 2004. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Roddick rankled by Hewitt fan, ref". Usatoday.Com. January 28, 2005. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "No sweat for Davenport". The Hindu. August 25, 2005. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- Bob Larson, site by Harris Media (January 26, 2008). "Australian Open: Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich". Tennis News. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Bhupathi, Sania Win First Grand Slam Together". Retrieved 01-02-2009.
- Sinai, Allon (May 10, 2009). "Ram/Erlich fall in final; Shahar retires with injury". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
- "Players". daviscup.com. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Israel drops Russia 2–0 in Davis Cup," Russia Today, 7/10/09, accessed 7/11/09
- "Levy wins to give Israel shock lead," Hindustan Times, 7/10/09, accessed 7/11/09
- "Nadal left off Spain team for Davis Cup, Associated Press, 6/30/09, accessed August 29, 2011
- Sinai, Allon, "Int'l Tennis: Ram, Erlich expect the spark to return for Davis Cup tie," The Jerusalem Post, 7/3/09, accessed 7/3/09
- "Spungin, Simon, "Davis Cup win was a very Israeli triumph"". Haaretz. 7/11/09. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- Lewis, Ori, "Levy and Sela win to stun Russia in Tel Aviv," Reuters, 7/10/09, accessed 7/10/09
- "Netanyahu: Davis Cup team has filled nation with pride," The Jerusalem Post, 7/11/09, accessed 7/11/09
- "Israel make Davis Cup history, USA stay alive". The Malaysia Star. July 12, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Russia out, US hangs on in Davis Cup," Saudi Gazette, 7/12/09, 19 Rajab 1430, accessed 7/12/09
- James, Dave (July 11, 2009). "Israel make Davis Cup history, USA stay alive". AFP. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Dimon, Ricky, "Singles rubbers dead as Israel finishes off Russia"". Tennis Talk. 7/11/09. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Israel completes Davis Cup win over Russia," Miami Herald, 7/12/09/accessed August 29, 2011
- "Staniforth, Mark, "Israelis Up for the Cup"". Sporting Life. 7/15/09. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- "Sela vs. Nadal: Israel to face Spain in Davis Cup semifinals". Haaretz. 7/12/09. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ""The most important day in Davis", ''Ynet'', 2/9/08, accessed 7/11/09". Ynet.co.il. April 5, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- Andy Ram at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Davis Cup record
- Jewish Virtual Library bio
- Jews in Sports bio
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Ram|