Wimbledon Day Eight Erlich storms into Men's Doubles semis

Jonathan Erlich and Philipp Petzschner marched into the semi-finals of the Men's Doubles competition at Wimbledon.

Erlich of Israel and Petzschner of Germany upstaged second seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo on Court 18.

Dodig and Melo took the first set 6-4 but Erlich and Petzchner rallied superbly to take sets two and three 6-2.

They went on to win the fourth 6-4 to seal their place in the last four.

Erlich said: "I'm really happy to reach the semi-final again. I'm very excited and I'm really high from the adrenalin from the match, which I keep replaying in my head.

"We were in control of the quarter-final from the very start and they stole the first set. We felt from early in the match that we were better and calmer, so we just wanted to keep playing as we were and look to break their serve, and once we did that things began to flow our way."

Erlich and Petzschner are now preparing for a showdown against local favourite Jamie Murray and John Peers of Australia.

"I'm still taking in the victory but I'm not getting matters out of proportion," said Erlich. "The main thing is that we are still in the tournament and the main work is still ahead of us. We are very greedy to win and we want to go all the way.

On his partnership with Philipp Petzschner he said: "I've known Philipp a long time but it was only about six weeks ago that we decided to play together. From the first moment there was a good connection and we have great chemistry. We both reassure each other and I'm very glad about that.

"In my last Wimbledon semi-final, I was still starting out and everything was new and fresh, and I wanted to conquer the world. Now I've been on the circuit for many years and although I'm less enthusiastic I'm still hungry. I was always very balanced but now I'm much more mature."

Earlier in the competition, Erlich, who is married with two children, hinted that retirement is on the cards soon due to time away from his family.

He said: "I always take stock at the end of the year and anything can happen. But I hope I'll be healthy and strong and can carry on playing at the level I am now."

Full coverage in this week's Jewish Chronicle.