Erlich and Ram give Israel 2-1 lead over Sweden

By Ori Lewis

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich gave Israel a 2-1 lead over Sweden in their Davis Cup first round tie with a 6-3 7-6 7-5 doubles win over Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt on Saturday.

Australian Open doubles champions Erlich and Ram put on a thrilling display in bright sunshine to give Israel the psychological edge ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.

After winning his singles match on Friday, Dudi Sela will hope to wrap up the World Group tie against the seven-times champions when he plays Thomas Johansson on Sunday. Harel Levy will take on Jonas Bjorkman in the final match.

"We have put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow with two chances to get the point we need," Israeli captain Eyal Ran said.

The Israelis got off to a flying start after a sluggish Aspelin lost his opening service game and Swedes never recovered from the setback.

After a tight second set, Erlich and Ram showed their class in the ensuing tiebreak to take it 7-3.

The players engaged in some thrilling net exchanges in the third before the Swedes broke Ram to lead 4-2.

But with the crowd cheering them on, the Israelis recovered to level for 4-4 by breaking Lindstedt before going on to win the match.