Israel reaches first Davis Cup semifinal

Israel has reached its first Davis Cup semifinal by taking an unbelievable 3-0 lead over Russia.

Australian Open doubles champions Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich defeated Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4 to decide the best-of-five series.

“This is something I will cherish for all of my life,” said Erlich, who recently came back from a 10-month injury layoff.

A day earlier, Israel had taken a surprising 2-0 lead after Harvel Levy beat Igor Andreev and Dudi Sela rallied to defeat Mikhail Youzhny in the singles matches.

Russia has won the Davis Cup twice—in 2002 and 2007—and made it to the semifinals in each of the past five years.

Israel had reached the quarterfinals once before, losing to India in New Delhi in 1987.

Now Israel will take on either Germany at home or Spain away in September.

(Via AP; Images by Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

Celebrating gay marriage?

Errr, not quite actually. For your information, these are not Californian men celebrating the legalisation of gay marriage. They are tennis players having fun at the ATP Players' Night in Hamburg, Germany.

Israeli doubles stars Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram joke at the ATP Players' Night.

Tournament Director Carl-Uwe Steeb and Thomas Muster attend the ATP Players Night in the Copper House in Hamburg, Germany.

And speaking about the controversial legalised gay marriage by the top court in California, Ellen DeGeneres announced during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she and girlfriend Portia de Rossi plan to swap vows.



(Images from Getty Images)