Wimbledon: Pe'er battles to first round win

Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich complete stunning comeback to beat American dup Scott Lipsky and David Martin.

By ANDREW SHERWOOD, WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND
peer teeth 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
peer teeth 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Shahar Pe'er won her first match in four tournaments in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday night, though she was made to battle for it, eventually overcoming Great Britain's Katie O'Brien 6-3, 7-5. Finding herself 1-3 down in the first set and 0-5 down in the second, Pe'er somehow managed to fight back in both much to the disappointment of the home crowd. Also Tuesday, Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich completed a stunning comeback to beat American dup Scott Lipsky and David Martin 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 11- 9 in a men's doubles first round match continued from Monday. The Israeli pair hailed the result as their "best ever win together." And Tzipi Obziler bowed out of the women's singles tournament at the first round, losing 4-6, 0-6 to Russia's Alisa Kleybanova. Reflecting on her win, Pe'er admitted her concentration had dropped on occasions and she was not totally satisfied with her play. "I won five games in a row in the first set and seven in the second but I didn't play good. I was sleeping a bit in the second she was dictating play and I wasn't playing my game. Suddenly somehow I began to play and it proved to be just enough to win the second set and I'm just really happy to have won," she told The Jerusalem Post. "I was very concentrated at 0-5 down in the second set, and with each game that I won, I grew in confidence and she lost a little. "The crowd wasn't a problem I was playing in a small court and that was fine Hoping to now build on this win," she added: "I haven't played very good in the past two months so it's good for my confidence. Grass isn't my favorite surface but I like to play here and after my win in the doubles am getting more confident on it." Ram and Erlich were delighted with their performance as they booked their place in the second round following the mammoth victory over Lipsky and Martin. Coming back on court on Tuesday after bad light suspended play on Monday night with the last set tied at 8-8, the third-ranked pair took 15 minutes to wrap the tie up. Erlich said: "That was the best we've ever performed together. We have never been two sets down before and it was a win all about showing great mental strength and spirit, we always say it never ends till it ends and so it proved." While confident of doing well at SW19, Ram though believes their matches are just getting tougher and tougher. "We are now favorites in every game we play," he said "and our opponents are more hungry and it's getting tougher. Having won one Grand Slam [This year's Australian Open] everyone wants to beat us so it's getting tougher and tougher. Ram and Erlich will next play Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins Wednesday will be a rest day for the Israelis with none scheduled on court.