Ram/Mirnyi ousted, ending Israel's run at Wimbledon

Russia announces roster for Davis Cup tie in Tel Aviv; Nadal to miss Spain-Germany quarterfinal.

By ALLON SINAI
andy ram 224.88 (photo credit: Asaf Kliger [file])
andy ram 224.88
(photo credit: Asaf Kliger [file])
Andy Ram and Max Mirnyi were knocked out in the third round of the doubles tournament, meaning there are no longer any Israelis in action at the All England Club. Ram and Mirnyi, who were seeded seventh, lost 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2), 6-3 to Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley. Ram will now join his fellow Israel teammates in training at the Nokia Arena ahead of next weekend's Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against Russia. Israel's four-man roster will consist of Ram (ranked 10th in the world in doubles), Yoni Erlich (65th in doubles), Dudi Sela (ranked 46th as a singles player), who had a career-high fourth round run at Wimbledon, and Harel Levy (219). Russia's captain Shamil Tarpischev announced on Tuesday that Dmitry Tursunov (ranked 22nd in the world), Marat Safin (24), Igor Andreev (26) and Mikhail Youzhny (44) will be his four players for the tie. Nikolai Davydenko, who is the highest ranked Russian player in the world at No. 11, was left of the roster at his own request for personal reasons. In other Davis Cup news, top-ranked Rafael Nadal will miss Spain's Davis Cup quarterfinal against Germany next month. Nadal, struggling with tendinitis in his knees that forced him to skip Wimbledon, was left off the Davis Cup team announced Tuesday for the matches in Marbella in southern Spain on July 10-12. Coach Albert Costa has selected Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo. Nicolas Almagro is the standby choice. Nadal "is not well and we have to let him rest," Costa says. AP contributed to this report.