US Open: Ram/Mirnyi make it through to quarter finals

Doubles duo defeats Bolelli/Seppi of Italy 7-6, 6-7, 6-2; Pe'er/Dulko knocked out by Australian pair Stosur/Stubbs.

By ALLON SINAI
andy ram france 248 88 ap (photo credit: AP [file])
andy ram france 248 88 ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
Andy Ram and Max Mirnyi each have doubles Grand Slam titles on their resumes, but on Sunday they advanced to the quarterfinals of a major tournament for the first time as a duo. The Israeli/Belarusian team's best Grand Slam performance until this week was a third round loss at Wimbledon earlier this summer. However, Ram and Mirnyi are now only three wins away from the US Open title after defeating Italians Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 6-2 to reach the last eight in New York. In the quarterfinals, Ram and Mirnyi, seeded number 5, will face a very tough encounter against No. 2 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, who have won two consecutive Wimbledon titles. Sela and Yen-Hsun Lu were knocked out in the third round of the doubles tournament on Monday, losing 6-4, 6-4 to No. 3 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. Meanwhile, Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs, seeded No. 3 in the women's doubles event, were just too good for Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko late Sunday, winning 7-5, 6-3 in the third round.