It was a good day for Israel at the 2012 London Olympic Games on Wednesday, as Israeli athletes made history both on the tennis court and in the swimming pool.
Israeli tennis players Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich stunned the audience and in fact all entire tennis world, as they defeated the gold medalists from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, world champion Roger Federer and his partner Stanislas Wawrinka. Ram and Erlich’s historic victory advanced them to the quarterfinals, where they will meet American brothers Bob and Michael Bryan.
Ram and Erlich were congratulated by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a known tennis fan, who wrote on his Facebook page, “As a tennis fan I salute tonight Israeli tennis players Israeli Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich, who made a huge achievement for Israeli sports and for them personally, when they beat the champions from the last Olympic Games led by Roger Federer.”
He added, “We’re all keeping our fingers crossed for them in the quarterfinal match against the Bryan brothers, and though the road is still long, an Israeli Olympic medal in tennis will make me particularly happy.”
Also on Wednesday at the Olympics, Israelis Yakov Toumarkin and Gal Nevo each qualified for the next rounds in their swimming categories.
Toumarkin came in 8th in the Olympic men’s swimming 200m backstroke heats with a time of 1:57.33. The win qualified Toumarkin for Thursday’s finals.
Nevo came in 12th in the men’s swimming 200m individual medley heats at 1:59.56.
