Andy Ram

His father Amiram, a former professional football player for Beitar Jerusalem in the 1950s, was Israeli.

After his father was injured he was sent to Uruguay on "shlihut" ("outreach"), and it was there that he met Ram's mother, who is Uruguayan.

She is a dental specialist for children.

He has an older brother and a younger sister.

They moved to Jerusalem when he was five, which is when he began playing tennis.

"It was tough at the beginning because I couldn't speak the language, and was fighting with people in the kindergarten who didn't understand me", said Ram.

"My parents decided to send me to the tennis center not long after we arrived."

Andreas "Andy" Ram (אנדי רם; born April 10, 1980) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player.

He was primarily a doubles player, and competed in three Olympics.

He is the first Israeli tennis player to win a senior Grand Slam event.

He became a professional tennis player in 1996, at the age of 16, but did not compete in a Grand Slam tournament until 2001 when he appeared in the Wimbledon doubles with Erlich.

It was at Wingate that he first met Jonathan Erlich, his future doubles partner who was also born in South America.

In 2002 Ram was injured, and did not play because he had knee surgery and back surgery.

He was on crutches for two months, could not walk, and considered giving up tennis.

In 2003 Ram won the doubles title at the RCA Championship with Croatian Mario Ančić.

With partner Jonathan Erlich, his groundbreaking achievement was their reaching the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships in 2003 as unknown qualifiers.

They defeated three seeded opponents en route to the semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, in a match in which neither side broke service, Ram and Erlich defeated No. 2 seeded Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor in straight sets: 7–6, 7–6, 7–6.

In the semis, Ram and Erlich – the first Israelis to ever advance to the semifinals in any Grand Slam event – lost to the defending Wimbledon champions, Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge.

Ram reached the 2003 Wimbledon mixed doubles final with Anastassia Rodionova of Russia.

The couple lost to tennis legend Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes.

Ram felt at that point that he had to choose whether to focus on doubles or singles, as he felt it would be tough to combine the two.

He chose to concentrate on doubles.

Ram and Erlich then won the Thailand Open in September and the Lyon tournament in October 2003.

Ram first won the mixed doubles title at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, together with Vera Zvonareva.

He married his wife Shiri in September 2006, and they have 3 children.

The family lives in Tel Aviv.

Ram is a fan of the football team Beitar Jerusalem.

"I really enjoyed playing tennis, because when I was six or seven years old and winning tournaments it felt good", said Ram.

"From when I was 8 or 10 I knew it was going to be a career for me. It's a tennis life so it wasn't so easy. You have to give up many things. When all my friends were playing outside I had to practice. I didn't go to all the school trips. But I was focused from a very young age. I grew up practicing at the Jerusalem tennis center. I spent most of my childhood there, practicing five days a week. I never regretted it and I enjoyed every moment. Now I am reaping the rewards."

Ram was trained by Ronen Moralli at the Israel Tennis Centers in Jerusalem.

When he was 15 he was sent to the Wingate Institute, where young Israeli athletes are groomed to become professionals.

"It wasn't easy being far away from your family", Ram remembers, "but you know it is going to be your profession and that's what you are going to try to do for life. You practice twice a day and fit in school in between."

He then won the mixed doubles title at the 2007 French Open with Nathalie Dechy, and the men's doubles title at the 2008 Australian Open with Jonathan Erlich.

Ram attained his highest doubles ranking of World No. 5 in July 2008.

He reached 36 doubles finals and won 20 of them through 2013, mostly with partner Jonathan Erlich; together, they are known in Israel as "AndiYoni".

In May 2014 he announced his retirement, to take effect after Israel's Davis Cup tie in September.

In April 2015, Ram, CEO of Pulse Play, announced his new startup – wearable technology and an app for amateur tennis players around the world.

Ram was born Andreas Ram in Montevideo, Uruguay, and is Jewish.

His Davis Cup doubles record, as of 2018, was 20–7.