Tennis: Ram and Erlich lose in Nottingham Open semis

Israeli duo beaten 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 by British pair of Joshua Goodall and Ross Hutchins.

By ALLON SINAI
ram erlich 298.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
ram erlich 298.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich suffered their first ever defeat at the Nottingham Open on Friday, losing 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to the British duo of Joshua Goodall and Ross Hutchins in the semifinals. The Israelis, who are ranked seventh in the ATP doubles race, won the Nottingham title in 2005 and 2006 and had improved their overall record in the event to 10-0 until their defeat on Friday afternoon. Ram and Erlich recorded the first break of the match in the eighth game and clinched the first set in the following game. In the second set, Goodall and Hutchins opened a 3-1 lead with their first break of the match and held their serve for the remainder of the set to send the match into a decisive tiebreaker. The Brits won three of the first four points of the breaker, but the Israelis came within three points of victory after opening a 7-6 lead. Goodall and Hutchins, however, claimed the last four points of the match and ended Ram and Erlich's hopes of three straight Nottingham titles. In the singles at Nottingham Ivo Karlovic rallied to win the title, taking three sets to beat eighth-seeded Arnaud Clement. Karlovic won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 for his second title on grass ahead of Wimbledon, which starts Monday. The big-serving Croatian also won the 2005 Queen's Club tournament. Ram and Erlich, are seeded seventh in the doubles tournament at Wimbledon which opens this week They will play a qualifier in the first round of Wimbledon and are set to face number one seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinals. Shahar Peer, who is seeded 16th in the tournament, will play Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugran (55) in the first round and could face world No. 3 Jelean Jankovic in the fourth round of the event. Tzipi Obziler (81) will be a massive underdog in her first round match against Michaella Krajicek (33). Anna Smashnova (166) will play German Martina Muller (34) in what could very well turn out to be the last match of her professional career. Britain's Andy Murray will decide Monday if he will play at Wimbledon. The No. 8 seed has been sidelined since May 15 with a right wrist injury. "I've been playing some sets the last few days and haven't had any bad reactions on my wrist," Murray said Saturday. "Every day it's been getting better. "Unless I have any bad reactions tomorrow or on Monday after my practices, I'm planning on playing."