Ram and Erlich fall; Shahar to reach career-high rank

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki will replace Serena Williams as No. 1 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

By ALLON SINAI
Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich’s first ATP Tour tournament together since February ended at the hands of the world’s top doubles team on Thursday, with the Israeli duo losing 7-6 (4), 6-2 to Bob and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing.
Ram and Erlich will go their separate ways once more in next week’s Shanghai Masters, but will be back playing together on a regular basis at the start of 2011.
Meanwhile, Shahar Pe’er is set to register a new career-best ranking next week after Nadia Petrova was knocked out of the China Open on Thursday.
Pe’er, who will face Timea Bacsinszky (47) in the quarterfinals in Beijing on Friday, is already guaranteed to climb five places in the WTA rankings to No. 13 – one place higher than her previous best – regardless of Friday’s result.
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki will replace Serena Williams as No. 1 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
Wozniacki will become the first Dane, male or female, to hold the top ranking after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Petra Kvitova at the China Open on Thursday.
“To be the world No. 1 has always been a dream for me,” Wozniacki said in an on-court interview at the Beijing Tennis Center. “It doesn’t feel like it’s real.”
Wozniacki is the 20th player to top the rankings since they began in 1975 and the third in the last two years to do so without having won a Grand Slam title, following Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic.
Williams, the Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, has not played competitively since capturing her 13th Grand Slam title at the All England Club in July.
The American has been sidelined by a cut on her foot but announced on Thursday that she will make her return in Linz, Austria next week.
AP contributed to this report.