Ram/Mirnyi beaten by Fish/Roddick in Indian Wells final

Doubles pair defeated 6-3, 1-6, 12-14; Pe'er/Dulko lose in women's final to Azarenka/Zvonareva.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, ALLON SINAI, AP
peer takes shot 248.88 (photo credit: AP)
peer takes shot 248.88
(photo credit: AP)
Israeli tennis player Andy Ram and his doubles partner Max Mirnyi, from Belarus, lost in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California on Saturday night. The two were defeated 6-3, 1-6, 12-14 by Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick of the United States. Also Saturday night, Shahar Pe'er just missed out on claiming the biggest doubles title of her career, losing in the final of the $4.5 million Indian Wells tournament with partner Gisela Dulko in a match tiebreaker. The Israeli/Argentinian duo will have to settle for half of the $237,000 winners' check after losing 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 to Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva in the final in California. Earlier, Roddick was beaten by world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-7 (4) in the men's singles semifinal. In the other semi, Andy Murray beat Roger Federer for the fourth straight time 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Meanwhile, defending champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Russia's Vera Zvonareva earned spots in Sunday's women's final. Fifth-seeded Ivanovic defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3, while fourth-seeded Zvonareva beat Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3. Ivanovic, 21, dominated Pavlyuchenkova, a 17-yearold schoolgirl from Moscow who had upset No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska. Zvonareva broke eighth-seeded Azarenka in the sixth game for the first set, and went up 2-0 in the second. Zvonareva saved all five break points she faced to reach the final at Indian Wells for the first time.