With the country set to observe Yom Kippur at sundown, Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich more than atoned for their teammates' less-than-stellar performance a day earlier by handily defeating Austrian doubles pair Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 Friday afternoon, giving Israel a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five survival playoff round of the Davis Cup.

Open gallery view Andy Ram, left, and Yoni Erlich. Credit: Nir Keidar

Today it will be up to Dudi Sela, Israel's go-to singles player who did not shine in his victory over Andreas Haider-Maurer last week, to clinch victory and cement his team's place in the World Group.

Sela will face Melzer, the 13th-ranked player in the world who made handiwork of Harel Levy on Thursday.

If Sela fails to take down Melzer, it will be up to the veteran Levy to overcome Peya if Israel has any designs about continuing in the World Group for another season.

Until then, Israel can savor the dazzling display put forth by Ram and Erlich, the doubles team that split up last year but reunited on Friday as if they had never parted, much to the delight of the 7,000 spectators on hand at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.

"It doesn't surprise me that we connected so well," Erlich said after the match. "We played together for five or six years, and we know each other well. It's like riding a bicycle. It takes a day or two to find the connection again, but then it goes right into your system."

With the help of a physiotherapist who worked on his aching knee all week, Ram sought to make the most of his comeback. "Last week, I played against Yoni in a doubles match and he ripped me apart," he said. "It was strange playing against him. It is more natural for us to play together. Let's hope that we'll reunite again next year."

With all due respect to Sela and Shahar Peer, Erlich and Ram proved on Friday that they are still the most successful brand in all of Israeli tennis. While the record crown on hand at Nokia could be attributed to the fact that it took place on Friday, a day off, one still couldn't avoid noticing that the thunderous applause for the duo dwarfed the encouragement Sela had received. The excitement brewing at Friday's match was reminiscent of a Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball game.

The boisterous crowd, however, prompted the French referee to implore the spectators - in Hebrew - to keep quiet during points.

Ram's knee held up nicely as he and Erlich took the first set tiebreak easily, 7-2. In the second set, they roared back from a 1-4 deficit to win 6-4. A quick break in the third set sealed the match for the Israelis.

"Yoni and I are now going to fast and pray for Dudi and Harel on Sunday," Ram said.