Erlich/Ram hits back to outclass Emmrich/Siljestrom in title-round – Serbia Open 2012
Third seeded Israelis, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, rallied past the German-Swede pair, Martin Emmrich and Andreas Siljestrom, in a three-set thriller at the Serbia Open 2012 on Sunday. They formulated a 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 victory against their rivals to conquer their first clay court title together at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The Israeli junction required almost one and a half hour-long venture to overpower Emmrich and Siljestrom in their first meeting. After earning this spotlight, Erlich and Ram shelved their 15th career titles together.
"As you grow up, you get more experience on clay. It's not our favourite surface, but I think we're playing top tennis on it," said Erlich after the match. "We're getting better and better. The last two weeks, we've played very good."
"We're very happy to get our first title of the season," Ram was quoted. "It's our first clay-court title together on clay, so that's a relief to finish a tough week by winning the title. We're climbing slowly and slowly back to the top to where we want to be."
The unseeded duo made a strong start at the SRPC Milan Gale Muskatirovic and after availing two break opportunities early on, they jumped to a 5-2 lead comfortably. Despite losing their serve in the eighth game, Erlich and Ram kept their serve once more and clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line.
Ranked 16th in the ATP World Tour Doubles Rankings, Erlich and Ram re-structured in the second set and held their serve in the opening game with conviction. They earned the coveted break in the second game and leaped to a 3-0 lead. Later, they plucked remaining serves with poise and capitalised on another break chance in the last game to seal the equaliser by winning six games to two.
The Israelis carried their rhythm in the super tie-breaker and prevailed in it to clinch the decider with a 10-6 score line.
All in all, the Israeli junction manipulated a better first serve share of 73 per cent as compared to their opponents’ 57 per cent and availed 35 out of 44 points on it.
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