Tennis: Ram/Erlich fall in final; Shahar retires with injury

The duo hadn't teamed-up since last year's US Open, with Erlich going through a long recovery process following elbow surgery.

By ALLON SINAI
ram erlich lose in davis match 248 88 (photo credit: AP)
ram erlich lose in davis match 248 88
(photo credit: AP)
Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich lost 7-5, 7-6 (6) to Chris Guccione and George Bastl in the final of the Ramat Hasharon Challenger tournament on Saturday, their first event together since last August. The duo hadn't teamed-up since last year's US Open, with Erlich going through a long recovery process following elbow surgery. "It's very disappointing to lose in the final in front of our fans, but we knew it would be tough and we did our best," Erlich said. In the upcoming months, Ram and Erlich will split up once more, allowing Ram to make the most of his successful partnership with Max Mirnyi, and giving Erlich some extra time to regain health. The two intend to play together in the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against Russia in July. Ram, who will play with Mirnyi at Roland Garros later this month, was delighted to be playing with Erlich once more. "There's nothing like playing with Yoni," Ram said. The singles event was won by Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu, who claimed the title after German Benjamin Becker retired with Lu leading 6-3, 3-1. On Friday, Shahar Pe'er (54) was forced to retire three games into her semifinal match against Yanina Wickmayer (88) in the Estoril Open in Portugal. Pe'er needed crutches to leave the court after defeating Jarmila Groth in the quarterfinals on Thursday, after an ankle inflammation from which she had been suffering from for some days. The 22-year-old retired from her doubles match later Thursday to rest her ankle, but that didn't help and after dropping the first three games of Friday's semi she was forced to retire just 14 minutes into the match. Pe'er is scheduled to play in the Madrid Open next week in her final tuneup tournament before the French Open, but may very well choose not to risk her health ahead of the year's second Grand Slam in Paris later this month.