Jonathan Erlich
(1977 - )
Jonathan Erlich is an Argentinian-born Israeli professional tennis player. He has represented Israel at three Olympic games.
Born in Argentina, Erlich moved to Haifa, and currently competes as an Israeli. Erlich participated in the 2002 Australian Open in the doubles with partner Andy Ram. Erlich also competed in the other two Grand Slam events during 2002. With Argentine partner Daniel Orsanic, Jonathan played in the doubles competition at both the French Open and Wimbledon, losing in the first round of each tournament.
At the 2003 Wimbledon tournament, Erlich and partner Andy Ram advanced through the qualifying tournament to reach the semifinals in men's doubles before losing to No. 4 seeded (and defending Wimbledon champions) Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge.
In late September, 2003, they won their first doubles title (as a team) on the ATP tour by capturing the Thailand Open. On October 13, they won their second doubles title in three weeks by capturing the Grand Prix de Lyon. As of July 8, 2004, Erlich was ranked No. 25 in the world in doubles and 624 in singles play.
Erlich and Ram paired up again for the 2003 U.S. Open, but were knocked out in the first round. The Ram-Erlich duo solidified their status among the top doubles teams on the circuit, however, by winning the Lyon tournament on October 12, 2003 and defeating the French team of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, 6-1, 6-3 in the final.
Erlich opened 2004 well as he advanced to the second round of the Australian Open. He and partner Andy Ram were ranked No. 14, however, they fell to Gaston Gaudio and Ivo Karlovic. Ram and Erlich represented Israel in the men's doubles at the 2004 Olympics in Athens where they reached the quarterfinals.
In 2008, Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich became the first Israeli doubles tennis team to win a Grand Slam tennis title. The pair, seeded eighth, defeated the seventh-seeded French duo, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llorda in the Australian Open in Melbourne. Erlich and Ram again competed together in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Erlich and Ram made their third straight doubles appearance, however, they lost in the quarterfinals yet again, this time to top ranked Americans, Mike and Bob Ryan.
Sources: Jews in Sports, JTA (January 27, 2008); Wikipedia