By, Danny Caro
1 min read
ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
Israel tennis star Andy Ram hit out at Olympic organisers for their failure to hold a minute's silence at the Opening Ceremony.
Speaking to the JC just moments after going out of the men's doubles competition, Ram said: "It was very bad that there was no minute of silence at the Opening Ceremony. They have to do it at the next Olympics.
"This is not about Israel. It's about the athletes killed at the 1972 Munich Games. I believe the decision was made for political reasons."
On the court, Ram and his partner Jonathan Erlich were reflecting on a missed opportunity as they bowed out against the top seeds at Wimbledon.
Having performed heroically to come from a set down against Roger Federer and Stanislas Warwinka less than 24 hours earlier, Ram and Erlich had a glorious chance to take the first set against brothers Bob and Mike Bryan. The Israelis held three set points but failed to take them as the Americans took the set 7-4.
Ram and Erlich battled valiantly in the second set, which again went to a tie-break. Prior to this, they saved three match points before eventually going down 11-9.
Ram said: "It was very tough to play so soon after beating Federer yesterday, but we gave it 100 per cent."
Erlich added: "We're very pleased with the level of tennis we've played here this week. That's how we wanted to play at the Olympics.
"We've had three tough matches and a pretty tough draw. It's not about being proud of ourselves, we're disappointed to lose as we believed we could win the tournament."