Jubilant Israeli No.8 seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram have taken out the men's doubles title on Day 13 of Australian Open 2008.
Erlich and Ram endured a rain delay midway through the opening set that derailed their early momentum, but managed to regain the ascendancy to seal a 7-5 7-6 (7-4) victory over French No.7 seeds Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra.
And the pair enthusiastically celebrated their victory, with Ram grabbing his partner and lifting him in the air before Erlich returned the favour when he hoisted Ram onto his back and piggy-backed him around the Rod Laver Arena centre court.
Erlich and Ram broke Llodra's serve in the opening game of the match and looked to be headed for a second when the heavens opened and forced the players off with Clement struggling to hold at 15-40.
With the roof closed, Clement managed to hold serve and then he and Llodra broke back in the 10th game when the Israeli pair served for the set, but they responded immediately by breaking Clement in the 11th and when Ram held the set was theirs.
Both pairings had chances to break in the second set, with Erlich saving break points in the sixth game and Clement doing likewise in the seventh, before Erlich and Ram recovered from 1-3 down in the tie-breaker.
Having won four of the next five points to draw clear with two Erlich serves to come, Ram hit a fantastic lob over Clement and Llodra at the net to set up championship point, which they then converted at the first opportunity.
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