Davis Cup tie against Britain set for the green grass at Eastbourne

The Israeli team will face Great Britain in the Euro/African Zone Group I playoffs on July 21-23.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
ram erlich tennis 298 88 (photo credit: Lidor Goldberg / ITA)
ram erlich tennis 298 88
(photo credit: Lidor Goldberg / ITA)
Israel's crucial Davis Cup playoff tie against Great Britain will take place on the grass courts of Eastbourne's Devonshire Park, the Lawn Tennis Association announced Friday. The Israeli team will face Great Britain in the Euro/African Zone Group I playoffs on July 21-23 with the winner assured a spot in the competition for another year and the losing team facing a relegation battle against Ukraine in September. While it is still too early to know which players will play for either side, the idea of playing on grass may not be too big of a problem for the blue-and-white squad, with doubles stars Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich achieving some of their greatest success on grass. Last year the two teams met in Israel, with Great Britain scoring a 3-2 win. "We are very excited about heading back to the grass in Eastbourne," Britain's Davis Cup captain Jeremy Bates told the LTA Web site. "The conditions are always perfect there and I'm sure the home crowd will provide us with fantastic support for this important tie." The weekend brought plenty of success for Israeli tennis players on the minor circuits, particularly in doubles action. Amir Hadad joined forces with Greece's Konstantinos Economidis to top the Italian duo of Manuel Jorquera and Giancarlo Petrazzuolo 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 in the final of the Garden Open 2006 in Rome, Italy. Hadad and Economidis defeated the tournament's No. 1, 3 and 4 seeds on the way to the title. Harel Levy and Dudi Sela were set to play for the title at the Atlanta Claycourt Challenger in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday after press time. The Israeli pair were scheduled to face American Hugo Armando and Andre Sa of Brazil after topping Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Canada's Philip Gubenco 6-1, 6-2 in Friday's semifinal. Tzipi Obziler added a doubles crown to her collection at the Antalya-Manavgat 2006 tourney in Turkey. Obziler and Italian partner Romina Oprandi recorded a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Turkey's Ipek Senoglu and Croatian Matea Mezak in the final. On Sunday, Ishay Hadash will face Amit Inbar in the final of the Greek Futures event in Kos, after downing British opposition in the semis. The unseeded Inbar beat No. 7 seed Neil Bamford 6-2, 7-5, while Hadash, seeded fourth, defeated No. 4 seed Joshua Goodall 6-2, 6-4.