Tennis: Ram and Erlich come up short in Vegas final

Still searching for their first title of 2007 after losing 7-6(6), 6-2, to the world's No. 1 duo of Bob and Mike Bryan.

By ALLON SINAI
Ram erlich 298 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Ram erlich 298 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich are still searching for their first title of 2007 after losing 7-6(6), 6-2, to the world's No. 1 duo of Bob and Mike Bryan in the final of the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas on Sunday. The Israelis, who were playing in a final for the first time this year, were the better team at the start of the match and may have been bitterly disappointed at not claiming the tight first set. Ram and Erlich squandered three set points, one while leading 6-5 and two in the tiebreaker, and struggled for the remainder of the match. Nevertheless, Ram and Erlich will be pleased with their week's work in Las Vegas, which boosts their ranking and confidence ahead of the two Masters series tournaments in Indian Wells, California, and Miami in the coming weeks. "They are a great team and we were real lucky to win the first set," said Mike Bryan, who helped rally his brother from a 5-1 deficit in the tiebreaker. Bob added, "We were down in the tie-break[er] and Mike got hot on his returns. We were fortunate to pull out the first set and we know we have to play our best tennis against them." The first set had to be decided by a tiebreaker after the Israelis failed to convert a set point in the 11th game of the match. Ram and Erlich took a 5-1 lead in the breaker and had two set points at 6-4. However, the Bryan's then won four consecutive points and snatched the first set from the Israelis' grasp. The Australian Open champions got the first break of serve in the second set, took a 3-1 lead, and eventually wrapped up the match with another break of serve in the eighth game of the set.