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Erlich & Ram Continue Solid Play With Impressive Win
© Getty Images The Israeli duo broke the 10-match winning streak of Bhupathi and Knowles and won their 12th match in the last 13 since capturing their first Grand Slam crown together at the Australian Open in January. Bhupathi and Knowles were coming off back-to-back ATP titles in Memphis and Dubai and during their 10-match winning streak they didn't drop a set. Erlich and Ram converted three of five break points in the 35-minute opening set and lost serve twice themselves. But Bhupathi and Knowles only won 39% of their service points (9 of 23). In the second set, Erlich and Ram went up a break at 2-1 but were broken back. They regained a break advantage at 4-3 and then served it out the one hour and 17 minute match at 5-4. They will face unseeded Max Mirnyi and Jamie Murray in the semifinals on Thursday night. Mirnyi and Jamie Murray rallied to defeat top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan 5-7, 6-4, 10-6 in one hour and 32 minutes on Wednesday night. The Bryans defeated Mirnyi and Murray in their Sydney opener in January, but lost to the duo in the Delray Beach final 10-6 in the match tie-break in one of their four runner-up finishes this season. They have played Indian Wells 10 times without a title. The Bryans converted their third break (set) point to win the opening set in 43 minutes after Mirnyi and Murray failed to convert two break points early on. In the second set, Mirnyi and Murray broke to take a 2-1 lead. However, the Bryans broke in the next game to tie the score. But Mirnyi and Murray broke again to grab a 3-2 advantage. They added another break in the seventh game but were broken in the next game. The Bryans held serve and forced Mirnyi and Murray to serve for the set again, which they did the second time. In the match tie-break, the Bryans jumped out to a 4-2 lead but then lost the next two points.
They went up 5-4 and Mirnyi and Murray regained the lead at 6-5. The Bryans tied it 6-6 but Mirnyi-Murray won the last four points in the match to secure their 10th win of the season (10-6).
Day 5: Bjorkman & Ullyett Squander Match Point
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Stanford ATP Doubles Race leaders and last year's Pacific Life Open finalists Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (pictured) improved to 15-3 on the season with a 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over the hottest team on the ATP circuit, No. 6 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles.
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