Jonathan Erlich

Jonathan Erlich
Country (sports)	Israel
Residence	Tel Aviv, Israel
Height	5ft 11in (180 cm)
Turned pro	1996
Plays	Right
Prize money	$859,961
Singles
Career record	6 - 6
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	292 (4 October, 1999)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	DNP
French Open	DNP
US Open	DNP
Doubles
Career record	140 - 100
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	9 (15 May, 2006)
	Last updated on: 11 January, 2007.

Jonathan Dario "Yoni" Erlich (Hebrew: יונתן דאריו "יוני" ארליך, born April 5, 1977 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a professional right-handed Israeli tennis player.

Erlich moved to Haifa when he was one-year-old, and now resides in Tel Aviv and competes as an Israeli.

Tennis career

When he was three he started playing tennis, and at seven he played his first tournament.[1]

He turned pro in 1996 at the age of 19.

He has reached 18 doubles finals and won 10 of them, mostly with partner Andy Ram.

Erlich and Ram first competed at Queen's Club in June 2001,

The Israeli duo's best achievement was reaching the semifinal of Wimbledon championships in 2003. They defeated No. 2 seeded Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor in straight sets, 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (9-7), before losing in the semifinals to defending Wimbledon champions Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge. They were the first Israelis to ever advance to the semifinals in any Grand Slam event.

They won their first doubles title at the Thailand Open in September 2003.

In October they won their second doubles title in three weeks by capturing the Grand Prix de Lyon, defeating the French team of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

Erlich and partner Liezel Huber of South Africa advanced to the semifinals in the mixed doubles tournament in 2004 at the Australian Open by beating the top-seeded team of Mark Knowles and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in the quarterfinals. They finally fell to the 4th-seeded pair Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova in the semifinals.

Ram and Erlich won the Lyon tournament for the second year running in October 2004. They met the premier duo Jonas Bjorkman and Radek Stepanek in the final and beat them emphatically, 7-6(2), 6-2.

Erlich and Ram won their fourth major tournament in Rotterdam in February 2005. They beat Czechs Cyril Suk and Pavel Vizner 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the finals.

Ram and Erlich missed the 2005 Roland Garros grand slam tournament. Ram's father had passed away as he was preparing to fly to France.

They reached 8th place in the doubles ranking at the end of 2005, and served as alternates at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Erlich and Ram claimed the Adelaide title in the first week of the 2006 season.

Erlich and Ram in March 2006 defeated the Russian finalists Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-2 to retain their Red Letter Days Open doubles title. Erlich and Ram became the first to successfully defend the doubles title in Nottingham.[2]

Davis Cup

Playing for Israel in 2000 and from 2002-07, he has won 10 of his 14 matches, including wins in Israel's most recent 2006 3-2 win over Great Britain, 2007 5-0 win over Luxembourg, and 2007 3-2 win over Italy.[3]

Olympics

Erlich and Ram represented Israel at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and reached the quarterfinals.

External links

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