Tennis: Ram, Erlich through to third round of US Open

Doubles duo defeats Pablo Cuevas and Werner Eschauer 6-3, 6-2; will face No. 10 seeds Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle in the last 16.

By ALLON SINAI
ram erlich 298.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
ram erlich 298.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich cruised into the third round of the US Open on Saturday night, defeating Pablo Cuevas and Werner Eschauer 6-3, 6-2 in a mere 57 minutes. The Israelis, who are seeded eighth at Flushing Meadows, will face No. 10 seeds Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle in the last 16 and will be looking to reach a quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament for just the second time in more than four years. Amazingly, Ram and Erlich only had a single unforced error throughout the match and lost just 10 points on their serve during the encounter. The Israeli duo broke Cuevas and Eschauer in the sixth game of Saturday's night match and held serve in the ninth game to wrap-up the first set. Ram and Erlich pressed forward their advantage at the start of the second set and broke their opponents in the first game. The duo held serve for the remainder of the match to book their place in the third round. On Friday, Dudi Sela's excellent run in New York was ended in the second round by Argentinian Juan Monaco. The 22-year-old Israeli, who won three qualifying matches and a first round encounter to book a meeting with Monaco, lost 6-4, 6-0, 6-7 (1), 6-4 to the Argentinian. Monaco, who is seeded 23rd in the tournament, dominated Sela on his service games, breaking seven times and ending any hope the Israeli had of continuing his winning streak. Also on Friday, Shahar Pe'er and Tahiana Garbin, who are seeded 12th in the doubles tournament, defeated Tatiana Poutchek and Tamarine Tanasugran 6-1, 6- 2 in the second round. The Israeli/Italian duo will face No. 7 seeds Nathalie Dechy and Dinara Safina in the third round. Pe'er, who is seeded 18th in the singles event, faced No. 13 seed Nicole Vaidisova in the third round late Saturday night. Vaidisova defeated Pe'er in their only previous meeting in Charleston in 2005.