Dudi Sela

Dudi Sela
Dudi Sela Israel tennis championship 2008 2.jpg
Country  Israel
Residence Tel Aviv, Israel
Date of birth April 4, 1985 (1985-04-04) (age 25)
Place of birth Kiryat Shmona, Israel
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Weight 67 kg (147 lbs)
Plays Right-handed; one-handed backhand
Career prize money US$992,180
Singles
Career record 46–51
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 29 (July 20, 2009)
Current ranking No. 63 (June 7, 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 3R (2009)
French Open 2R (2009)
Wimbledon 4R (2009)
US Open 2R (2007)
Doubles
Career record 6–14
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 238 (September 14, 2009)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2008)
French Open 1R (2008)
Wimbledon 1R (2009)
US Open 4R (2009)
Last updated on: September 15, 2009.

David "Dudi" Sela (Hebrew: דודי סלע; born April 4, 1985, in Kiryat Shmona, Israel) is an Israeli professional tennis player.

Sela reached a career-high singles ranking of # 29 in July 2009. He is currently Israel's top men's singles player, ahead of Harel Levy and Noam Okun. He is right-handed, and at 5' 9" he is one of the shortest players on the tour.[2][3][4][5]

As a 17-year-old junior, he won the 2003 French Open boys' doubles championship with his doubles partner. His peak junior rankings were # 12 in singles, and # 16 in doubles.

Representing Israel in the Davis Cup, his highlight has been an upset win in 2007 over world # 7 Fernando González. In 2008 he beat world # 5 David Ferrer in straight sets, and in 2010, he beat world # 7 Andy Roddick in straight sets.

Contents

Early life

Sela's father Michael, a bus driver, and mother Anca, a nurse, immigrated to Israel from Romania.[6][7] His family name was originally Sălăjean, but his father changed it so that it would be more easily pronounced in Israel. He grew up in the small city of Kiryat Shmona, on the Israel-Lebanon border.[2]

At the age of two, Dudi, diminutive of David, had his hands on his first racket, and at the age of seven he began to play tennis.[8][9] His tennis idols were his brother Ofer, who was a top 200 player, and the Israeli Amos Mansdorf.[2][6] Sela spent hours as a junior studying tapes of Mansdorf, hoping to one day match his achievements.[10]

Juniors: 2000–03

In April 2000 Sela won his first title, the Haifa International title, with partner and countryman Idan Ben Harosh. In Corfu, Greece, Sela captured the doubles title, while narrowly losing the singles final.

In April 2001 he reached the Israel International singles final, and won the doubles title with Israeli Maor Zirkin. In July of the same year, he won his first singles title in Van Keeken of the Netherlands. The following month, at the Fischer Junior Open he won the singles, and also captured the doubles title with Michael Ryderstedt of Sweden.

In 2002, Sela enjoyed a strong showing in the Australian Open Junior Competition, reaching the quarterfinals. In April, he took home the Beaulieu Sur Mer trophy with a strong performance. In the French Open Juniors he cracked the final eight.

2003 was Sela's last year as a junior. He reached the semifinals of the 2003 US Open Junior Championships, before losing to Marcos Baghdatis. He also reached the Roland Garros Junior singles quarters for the second consecutive year, and won the French Open 2003 doubles title with partner Győrgy Balazazs of Hungary. In March 2003 he won the Australia F1 tournament in Tasmania. In July he triumphed at the Togliatti competition in Russia, resulting in his ATP ranking shooting up 103 places to 256.[11]

At his peak as a junior player, he was ranked # 12 in the ITF singles rankings, and # 16 in the doubles.

Pro career

2004–06

His best results in 2004 were the semifinals at the Covington Challenger, and the quarterfinals in four other Challenger tournaments.[6]

Sela had a successful year on the ATP Challenger circuit in 2005, winning tournaments in Vancouver, Canada, and Lexington, Kentucky, in consecutive weeks. He had a 21–11 record in Challengers.[6]

In 2006 Sela won more USTA Pro Circuit singles titles than any other man – all at the Futures level – with five. He picked up consecutive wins twice during the year, at events in Claremont, California, and Costa Mesa, California, in September and in Waikoloa, Hawaii, and Honolulu in November. His other win came at a tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the last week of October.[12]

2007

In January 2007, Sela qualified for the main draw of the 2007 Australian Open. In the first round he upset Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, who was ranked # 56 in the world. In the second round, he lost to Marat Safin in five sets, despite starting by leading the Russian two sets to one. In April 2007, Sela lost in the semifinals in a Challenger tournament to Paul Baccanello in Lanzarote, Spain.

In July 2007 he lost in the finals of the Open Diputación in Córdoba, Spain. In the tournament he defeated # 47 ranked Albert Montañés 7–5, 6–4. Later in July, he won a challenger title in Togliatti, Russia, his fourth career title, beating Russia's Mikhail Ledovskikh 7–6 (3), 6–3 in the final.[13]

Sela then qualified for the US Open. In the first round of the main draw he defeated Nicolás Lapentti, 5–7, 6–2, 6–1, 6–3, his fourth upset of a top 100 player in the first 8 months of the year. Lapentti was once ranked as high as # 6 in the world, but at the time of the match was ranked # 80. Sela lost to world # 23 Juan Mónaco in the second round, 6–4, 6–0, 6–7 (1), 6–4.

In October he first defeated world # 51 Juan Martín del Potro 2–6, 7–5, 6–3 at the Japan Open in Tokyo, followed by # 90 Boris Pašanski 6–2, 4–0, ret. Sela won the Seoul Challenger tournament later in October, winning all five of his matches in straight sets. The win lifted him to a career-high 73 in the world.[14]

Sela had considered retiring before the start of 2008 if he did not make a breakthrough, but things came together. In October he said: "My target is to reach the top 70 within the next year."[15]

He lost in the finals of the ATP Taiwan Challenge in Kaohsiung in November to Lu Yen-hsun, 6–3, 6–3, but won the doubles title together with Stephen Amritraj of India.[16] He won the Keio Challenger in Yokohama the following week, losing only one set (in a tiebreaker). In December 2007, he had his revenge on Marat Safin in Saint Anton, with a straight-set win: 6–1, 6–4. It was his tenth win over a player in the top-100 in the year. For the year he compiled a 33–14 match record in Challenger play with two titles, went 10–5 (all on hard courts) in ATP level competition, and became the first Israeli man to finish in the top 100 since Harel Levy in 2001.[6]

2008

In the Australian Open, Sela won his first round match over qualifier Martin Slanar 6–2, 6–4, 6–2. He lost his second round to world # 24 Ivo Karlović 7–6 (5), 4–6, 3–6, 1–6.

In March at the Pacific Life Open he defeated world # 49 Nicolas Kiefer, 6–4, 6–7 (4), 6–3. Then at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami he defeated world # 48 Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea, 6–4, 6–3, and # 14 Tommy Robredo of Spain in the 2nd round, 7–6 (5), 6–1. He defeated world # 88 Robby Ginepri in April in Houston, 7–6 (5), 6–2. In May in Austria he defeated world # 80 Mischa Zverev of Germany 7–6 (2), 6–0. In July he won the Vancouver challenger, beating Kevin Kim in the final, 6–3, 6–0.

Sela was gravely disappointed by the failure of the Israel Olympic Committee to allow him to represent Israel at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.[17] Despite the fact that Sela met the International Olympic Committee's criteria to play in the Olympics, and the Israel Tennis Association recommended that he deserved to go, the Israel Olympic Committee refused to accept the recommendation.[17] Sela said he learned he wasn't going to be permitted to go to the Olympics because "I wasn’t inside the top 50 ranked players.... I met the International Olympic Committee's criteria. But they don’t want to send me, and I don’t understand why. It's not like I’m 500th in the world, I’m 60th. When Nicolás Massú won the Olympics he was ranked 70th, so it shows anything can happen. I want to go and be the first Israeli to play in the men's singles for 20 years."[17]

In August Sela defeated world # 97 Vince Spadea of the United States 7–6 (6), 6–3 at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington.[18] Later in the month he beat world # 99 Donald Young, 6–4, 6–2, in New Haven, Connecticut at the Pilot Pen tournament.

Sela reached his first ATP Tour final in September at the China Open, while ranked # 92. Sela, unseeded, defeated the world # 61 Frenchman Nicolas Devilder in the first round. In the second round, Sela upset the first seed and world # 5, David Ferrer, in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3. Sela continued his run by defeating the sixth seed, world # 16 Tommy Robredo, 6–4, 6–1, and the seventh seed, world # 35 Rainer Schüttler, 6–3, 6–3. Sela was defeated by Andy Roddick in the final 6–4, 6–7 (6), 6–3. Sela became the first Israeli since Harel Levy in 2001 to reach an ATP final.[6] "Dudi reached the final and realized he had it", said his brother Ofer. "He beat top-30 players day after day.... It was the first time he proved he was no paper tiger, but one who can dish it out to everyone. He always knew he had the potential, but suddenly he understood how to fulfill it."[19]

In October, he defeated the world # 72 Victor Hănescu at the Kremlin Cup, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2.

By December 2008 Sela had slipped out of the top 100, however, and he was advised to skip his year-end vacation and play three Challenger tournaments that month. That way he could earn some money, return to the top 100, and qualify directly for the Australian Open.[19] Instead, Sela chose to return to Israel for a month of training, and work on his weaknesses with his coach, Yoram Menahem.[19] During that time he changed his stance and serve.[19] "Many would have opted for the Challengers, and the safe money", said his brother Ofer seven months later, "but Dudi was very confident in his decision, and looking back he really matured with it. His career looks different now."[19]

2009

In the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, Sela won three rounds of qualifiers in order to make the main draw. In the final round, Sela beat Grega Žemlja of Slovenia in dramatic fashion, surviving 6 match points to win 6–2, 2–6, 8–6.

In the main draw, Sela beat the 30th-seeded German veteran Rainer Schüttler met by chants of lets go dudi, who was ranked # 31 in the world, 1–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. In the second round he defeated world # 44 Victor Hănescu of Romania, 6–3, 6–3, 6–2, saving all 12 of Hănescu's break points. He was the first Israeli man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since Amos Mansdorf progressed to the round of 32 in Wimbledon in 1994.[20] In the round of 32, however, Sela was defeated by fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–4, 6–2, 1–6, 6–1. Sela said: "I would like to finish this year in the top 60 or 50 in the world. I think it would be a good year if I finish somewhere like that. I'm just going to keep learning."[21]

In February at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Sela made it through two rounds of qualifying matches, and then as far as the semifinals. Along the way he beat world # 92 Robert Kendrick 6–4, 6–4, world # 73 Bobby Reynolds 7–6 (4), 6–2, world # 54 Florent Serra of France, 7–6 (4), 7–6 (4), and world # 43 Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. With that, he raised his world ranking to # 65. In late February at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Florida he beat world # 80 Philipp Petzschner of Germany, 6–3, 4–1, ret. In March he defeated world # 42 José Acasuso at the BMW Tennis Championship, but withdrew in his next match after suffering a leg injury.

In May he reached a new career-high world ranking of # 55. That month he won his first round match at the 2009 French Open, his first French Open victory ever, against Jean-René Lisnard of Monaco, 6–4, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3.[22] In June 2009 at the Ordina Open he defeated world # 59 Christophe Rochus 6–2, 6–4, and at 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands in a grass-court tuneup for Wimbledon he beat world # 39 Igor Kunitsyn 6–4, 6–3. He again reached a career-high singles ranking, this time # 46.

In the 1st round at Wimbledon Sela defeated Mexican Santiago González, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6 (2), 6–3. In the 2nd round, he upset 2008 semifinalist, world # 29 German Rainer Schüttler, seeded 18th, 7–6, 6–3, 6–2.[23] In the match Sela produced an exciting array of shots, and exhibited a fierce backhand as well as more subtle drop shots.[24]

"I like it when there is a lot of chaos going on on the court. It reminds me of Israel. I play a lot better when it's like that."[25]

Sela, commenting on the chanting and flag-waving during his Wimbledon matches

In the 3rd round Sela was urged on by a contingent of supporters who for much of the first two sets chanted a Hebrew song, translated roughly as: "David, King of Israel is alive and lives on!"[26] Sela combined solid ground strokes that included a potent backhand with a series of increasingly effective rushes of the net to defeat world # 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain, seeded 15th, 7–6 (8), 7–5, 2–6, 7–5; he is now 3–0 lifetime against Robredo.[26][27][28][29] Al Jazeera described the upset as a "shock result".[30] That advanced Sela to the round of 16, his first Grand Slam 4th round, which The Independent described as the "suprise of the week".[26][28][29][31] Sela became the first Israeli man in 20 years (since Amos Mansdorf in 1989) to reach the 4th round at Wimbledon, and fourth Israeli man ever (and first since Mansdorf at the 1992 Australian Open) to reach the 4th round in a Grand Slam.[10][32] The victory guaranteed him a payday of at least $80,000.[4][33]

Sela next sought to join Shlomo Glickstein (1981 Australian Open), Mansdorf (1992 Australian Open), and Shahar Pe'er (2007 Australian Open and 2007 US Open) as the only Israelis to have made it to a Grand Slam quarterfinal.[34] He was defeated in the 4th round, however, by the 2008 Australian Open champion, world # 4 Serbian Novak Djokovic, 6–2, 6–4, 6–1.

On the strength of his Wimbledon performance, Sela rose to a career-high world # 33 in July 2009. Commenting on his career-high ranking, Sela said: "This is one of the happiest days of my life."[35] Following his victory in the Davis Cup against Russia the next week, he rose again to a new career high, this time # 29, one better than the career high of Davis Cup teammate Harel Levy; Amos Mansdorf (# 18 in 1987) and Shlomo Glickstein (# 22 in 1982) are the only Israeli men to have placed higher in the mens' singles rankings.[36] [37]

In late July Sela was seeded # 2 for the 2009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships in singles.[38] In doubles Sela partnered American Jesse Levine, and defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and Josselin Ouanna of France 6–4, 6–4 to make it to the quarterfinals.[39]

2010

On June 10, 2010. at the 2010 AEGON Championships held at the Queen's Club in Kensington, Sela upset number 4 seed, and world # 7, Andy Roddick in straight sets 6–4, 7–6 (10–8)[40]

Davis Cup

In late 2005, he joined the Israeli Davis Cup team. He is 12–6 through July 2009.[41]

In April 2007 he upset Andreas Seppi, ranked # 91 in the world, 6–3, 7–5, 1–6, 3–6, 6–3, as Israel defeated Italy.

Before the Chile-Israel Davis Cup match began in September 2007, even The Jewish Chronicle wrote: "Led by Fernando González (6) and Nicolás Massú (72), it is hard to see Israel's Dudi Sela (105) and Noam Okun (186), backed up by doubles specialists Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich, winning the contest. González and Massú are also a formidable doubles partnership, having won the Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004."[42]

That same month, before playing Nicolás Massú of Chile in the first match of the tie, Sela said: "We like being the underdog. I'm very pleased with the fact that I'm playing first and I'm very confident of claiming the win."[43] He then proceeded to upset Massu, ranked # 72 in the world, and formerly ranked # 9 in the world, in a 5-hour 7-minute match, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7 (3), 6–4. "This is definitely the biggest win in my career", Sela said afterwards.[44]

"Something changed in me at the end of the fourth set. Suddenly, I felt I was entering the zone. I was in a world of my own, and I simply didn't pay any attention to what was happening around me. I was just concentrated on my game. I felt so good that I was afraid it would end. Because I wanted to stay in the zone at any price I started to play real fast. I didn't wait in between points, which is usually not a good move, but at that stage the only thing on my mind was how to keep my zone, and that was it."[45]

— Sela, commenting on his Davis Cup match against González

Later in that Davis Cup tie, Dudi Sela defeated # 7 in the world Fernando González 4–6, 7–6 (5), 5–7, 7–6 (7), 6–3 in a 5-hour 1-minute match. It is arguably the greatest tennis match ever played in Israel.[46] The victory lifted Israel over Chile and into 2008's World Group. Gonzalez was at the time the highest-ranked player Sela had ever beaten in his career (he later beat world # 5 David Ferrer in Beijing in September 2008),[47] and his 6th upset of a top-100 player in the first 9 months of the year. Elated, Sela said "This is definitely the happiest day of my life." Sela was congratulated over the phone by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres after the match.[48]

In the 2008 World Group, Israel hosted Sweden in Ramat HaSharon.[49] Sela started with a win against world # 71 Jonas Björkman 7–6, 6–3, 6–1, and gave Israel an advantage of 1–0. He then lost to world # 60 Thomas Johansson 7–6 (6), 6–1, 7–5, as Israel lost the tie 3–2. In the 2008 World Group Playoffs, Sela led the Israeli team to a 4–1 victory over Peru at Ramat Hasharon. Sela won both his singles contests, defeating Iván Miranda and Luis Horna.

In the 2009 World Group Playoffs in March 2009, Israel again faced seven-time Davis Cup champion Sweden. An amusing moment occurred during Sela's opening match when the Israeli fans, to the Que Sera, Sera tune of the Doris Day hit song from the 1950s, sang "Dudi Sela, Sela, whatever will be will be."[50] Sela led the Israeli team to a come-from-behind 3–2 victory over the 7-time Davis Cup champion Swedes[51] at Baltic Hall in Malmö, Sweden, to advance in the 2009 Davis Cup. Sela won each of his singles matches in 5 sets, coming from behind to defeat Andreas Vinciguerra in his hometown 4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 11–9, and came from behind to stun 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson 3–6, 6–1, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. Sela views it as the biggest win of his career to that point.[2] In their 84-year Davis Cup history, the Swedes had never before lost a tie after holding a 2–1 lead. The last time Israel's Davis Cup team reached the level of being one the top eight tennis nations in the world was in 1987, against India.[52]

Israel (ranked 8th in the Davis Cup standings, with 5,394 points) hosted heavily favored Russia (which won in both 2002 and 2006, and was the top-ranked country in Davis Cup standings, with 27,897 points) in a Davis Cup quarterfinal tie in July 2009, on indoor hard courts at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.[53][54] Israel was represented by Sela, Harel Levy, Jonathan Erlich, and Andy Ram. Russia's lineup consisted of Marat Safin (# 60 in the world; former world # 1), Igor Andreev (24), Igor Kunitsyn (35), and Mikhail Youzhny (69; former world # 8).[55][56] Sela said before the tie: "We feel we can beat the Russians."[57] The stage was then set by Safin, who prior to the tie told the press: "With all due respect, Israel was lucky to get to the quarterfinals."[58] The Israeli team's response was to beat the Russian team in each of their first three matches, thereby winning the tie. Levy, world # 210, beat Russia's top player, Andreev, world # 24, 6–4, 6–2, 4–6, 6–2 in the opening match. Sela (# 33) followed by beating Russian Youzhny 3–6, 6–1, 6–0, 7–5. Israeli captain Eyal Ran likened his players to two fighter jets on court, saying: "I felt as if I had two F-16s out there today, they played amazingly well." The 10,500 spectators were the largest crowd ever for a tennis match in Israel.[59] The next day Israelis Ram and Erlich beat Safin and Kunitsyn 6–3, 6–4, 6–7 (3), 4–6, 6–4 in front of a boisterous crowd of over 10,000.[60] Even the Saudi Gazette described the doubles match as a "thrilling" win.[61] Ran was carried shoulder-high around the Tel Aviv stadium, as the 10,000-strong crowd applauded.[62] With the tie clinched for Israel, the reverse singles rubbers were "dead", and instead of best-of-five matches, best-of-three sets were played, with the outcomes of little to no importance.[63] Israel wrapped up a 4–1 victory over Russia, as Levy defeated Kunitsyn 6–4, 4–6, 7–6 (2), while Sela retired with a wrist injury while down 3–4 in the first set against Andreev.[64]

Israel, however, lost to Spain in the semi-finals, 4–1. Their only win coming in the last match, in which Harel Levy beat Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Playing style

Sela is very fast, and viewed as a serve and volleyer by some.[4] The versatility that he demonstrates with his one-handed backhand is seldom matched by anyone on the circuit.[65]

Coaching

During his career he has also been coached by his brother Ofer Sela, Australian-born former Israeli Davis Cup coach Ron Steele, and Israelis Noam Behr, Yoav Shab, Yoram Menahem, and Amos Mansdorf.

Jewish heritage

Sela, along with Jesse Levine, Sergio Roitman, and Shahar Pe'er is one of a number of young Jewish tennis players who are highly ranked.[66][67][68][69][70] "It's very special being able to play around the world", Sela said. "It is fun playing in different places because Jewish people will come out to watch me."[2][10][71]

Sela enjoys support outside of Israel from his fan brigade, known as the "Hebrew Hammer", whose chanting in both English and Hebrew aims to replicate the raucous atmosphere of tennis matches in Tel Aviv that helped him defeat the likes of González in arguably his most historic victory.[72][73] Originating at the LA Tennis Open in 2008, the Hebrew Hammer has been spotlit on telecasts by the Tennis Channel.

Career finals (8)

Singles wins (8)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (0)
Challengers (8)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. July 14, 2003 Russia Togliatti Hard Argentina Juan Pablo Brzezicki 6–2, 6–4
2. July 25, 2005 United States Lexington Hard United States Bobby Reynolds 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
3. August 1, 2005 Canada Vancouver Hard Australia Paul Baccanello 6–2, 6–3
4. July 16, 2007 Russia Togliatti Hard Russia Mikhail Ledovskikh 7–6, 6–3
5. October 22, 2007 South Korea Seoul Hard Greece Konstantinos Economidis 6–4, 6–4
6. November 19, 2007 Japan Yokohama Hard Japan Takao Suzuki 6–7, 6–4, 6–2
7. July 28, 2008 Canada Vancouver Hard United States Kevin Kim 6–3, 6–0
8. May 2, 2010 Greece Rhodes Hard Germany Rainer Schüttler 7–6, 6–3

Singles runner-ups (3)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. July 2, 2007 Spain Córdoba Hard Spain Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras 4–6, 6–0, 5–7
2. November 12, 2007 Republic of China Kaohsiung Hard Republic of China Yen-Hsun Lu 3–6, 3–6
3. September 28, 2008 People's Republic of China Beijing Hard United States Andy Roddick 4–6, 7–6(6), 3–6

See also

References

  1. ↑ Official Wimbledon profile
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "D Sela". Wimbledon.org. June 26, 2009. http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/interviews/2009-06-26/200906261246047275343.html. Retrieved June 26, 2009. 
  3. ↑ "Two Americans find size isn't all that matters at Wimbledon". USA Today. 6/26/09. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2009-06-26-americans-size_N.htm. Retrieved 6/26/09. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Bondy, Filip (June 28, 2009). "With run to fourth round, Dudi Sela standing tall for Israel at Wimbledon". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2009/06/28/2009-06-28_with_run_to_fourth_round_dudi_sela_standing_tall_for_israel_at_wimbledon.html. Retrieved June 28, 2009. 
  5. ↑ Ubha, Ravi, "Djokovic playing mind games?," ESPN, 6/26/09, accessed 6/26/09
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "ATP World Tour: Dudi Sela". ATPWorldTour.com. http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Dudi-Sela.aspx. Retrieved June 26, 2009. 
  7. ↑ Bandini, Paolo (6/26/09). "Wimbledon 2009: day five – as it happened". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jun/26/wimbledon-live-updates. Retrieved 6/26/09. 
  8. ↑ "How Romania lost one player" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. January 26, 2009. http://www.gsp.ro/gsp-special/superreportaje/refuzat-de-toti-120146.html. Retrieved January 26, 2009. 
  9. ↑ Cook, Jonathan (1/27/09, accessed 6/26/09). "Sela set to play in SA Tennis Open". The Witness. http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=18948. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Israel's Sela upsets Robredo to reach 4th round". Sports Illustrated. June 26, 2009. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/tennis/06/26/wimbledon.sela.ap/. Retrieved June 26, 2009. 
  11. ↑ Toberman, Barry (7/25/03). dudi sela&srchtxt=1&srchhead=1&srchauthor=0&srchsandp=0&scsrch=0 "Tournament win aids sponsor search for Israeli tennis hope". The Jewish Chronicle. http://website.thejc.com/home.aspx?AId=17143&ATypeId=1&search=true2&srchstr= dudi sela&srchtxt=1&srchhead=1&srchauthor=0&srchsandp=0&scsrch=0. Retrieved 6/29/09. 
  12. ↑ USTA.com
  13. ↑ Sinai, Alon (7/23/07). "Tennis: Dudi Sela, Harel Levy win first titles". The Jerusalem Post. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1184766037447&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull. Retrieved 6/26/09. 
  14. ↑ "Tennis: Sela to be ranked in world's top 80," The Jerusalem Post, 10/29/07, accessed 6/26/09
  15. ↑ The Jewish Community Online
  16. ↑ Wei-ming, Liang "Lu Yen-hsun wins Taiwan Challenge," Taipei Times, 11/19/07, accessed 6/26/09
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Caro, Danny (June 26, 2008). sela&srchtxt=1&srchhead=1&srchauthor=0&srchsandp=0&scsrch=0 "Cracks over China as Sela slams selectors". The Jewish Chronicle. http://website.thejc.com/home.aspx?AId=60870&ATypeId=1&search=true2&srchstr=dudi sela&srchtxt=1&srchhead=1&srchauthor=0&srchsandp=0&scsrch=0. Retrieved June 28, 2009. 
  18. ↑ http://www.pr-inside.com/isner-reynolds-win-in-upsets-haas-r749763.htm
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Wolf, Nir (June 28, 2009). "Wimbledon: Israeli tennis player Sela out to make history despite odds". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096339.html. Retrieved June 28, 2009. 
  20. ↑ Sinai, Allon and AP, "Sela marches on in convincing fashion," The Jerusalem Post, 1/23/09, accessed 6/26/09
  21. ↑ Kamien, Adam (January 22, 2009). "Sela stuns world number 44 to move into third round". The Australian Jewish News. http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=6964. Retrieved June 26, 2009. 
  22. ↑ Haaretz Sports Staff, "Tennis/French Open/Dudi Sela smashes into second round," Haaretz, 5/26/09, accessed 6/26/09
  23. ↑ Sinai, Allon, and Sherwood, Andrew, "Pe'er and Sela both advance to 2nd round at Wimbledon," The Jerusalem Post, 6/22/09, accessed 6/26/09
  24. ↑ Hyde, Tom, "Schuettler shoved aside by Sela," Wimbledon.org, 6/24/09, accessed 6/26/09
  25. ↑ "Tebutt, Tom, "Tennis/Day 8"". Globe and Mail (Theglobeandmail.com). 06/30/09. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/tennis-day-8/article1202018/. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Martin, John (June 26, 2009). "Sela Gets Plenty of Support in Upset of Robredo". The New York Times. http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/sela-gets-plenty-of-support-in-upset-of-robredo/. Retrieved June 26, 2009. 
  27. ↑ Herman, Martyn, "Wimbledon-Israeli's cheer as Sela reaches fourth round," Reuters, 6/26/09, accessed 6/26/09
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 ""Israel's Dudi Sela wins through to third round at Wimbledon"". Haaretz. Haaretz.com. 6/24/09. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1095340.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Dirs, Ben, "Fish v Djokovic as it happened," BBC, 6/26/09, accessed 6/26/09
  30. ↑ "Wimbledon blog: Round Three," Al Jazeera, 6/27/09, accessed 6/27/09
  31. ↑ Newman, Paul (6/28/09). "Lords of the lawn show their expertise". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/lords-of-the-lawn-show-their-expertise-1722966.html. Retrieved 6/28/09. 
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  38. ↑ "Dudi Sela Wins in Indianapolis, Tommy Robredo Ousted in Hamburg". Bleacher Report. July 21, 2009. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/221760-dudi-sela-wins-in-indianapolis-tommy-robredo-ousted-in-hamburg. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  39. ↑ "Rain limits Indianapolis event to just two matches; seven others postponed," The Canadian Press, 7/22/09, accessed 7/23/09
  40. ↑ Sela Sends Roddick Out at Queens
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  42. ↑ dudi sela&srchtxt=1&srchhead=1&srchauthor=0&srchsandp=0&scsrch=0 Griver, Simon, "Russian test looms for Israel’s leading ladies," The Jewish Chronicle, 9/20/07, accessed 6/28/09
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  45. ↑ "Wolf, Nir, and Hipsh, Rami, "Sela puts Israel in finals with upset over Top 10 Chilean"". Haaretz. Haaretz.com. September 25, 2007. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/906498.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  46. ↑ Sinai, Allon, "The best sports moments of 2007," 12/27/07, accessed 6/26/09
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  50. ↑ The Globe and Mail, 3/10/09
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External links

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1981 Barry Moir / Michael Robertson  • 1982 Pat Cash / John Frawley  • 1983 Mark Kratzmann / Simon Youl  • 1984 Luke Jensen / Patrick McEnroe  • 1985 Petr Korda / Cyril Suk  • 1986 Franco Davín / Guillermo Pérez-Roldán  • 1987 Jim Courier / Jonathan Stark  • 1988 Jason Stoltenberg / Todd Woodbridge  • 1989 Johan Anderson / Todd Woodbridge  • 1990 Sébastien Lareau / Sébastien Leblanc  • 1991 Thomas Enqvist / Magnus Martinelle  • 1992 Enrique Abaroa / Grant Doyle  • 1993 Steven Downs / James Greenhalgh  • 1994 Gustavo Kuerten / Nicolás Lapentti  • 1995 Raemon Sluiter / Peter Wessels  • 1996 Sébastien Grosjean / Olivier Mutis  • 1997 José de Armas / Luis Horna  • 1998 José de Armas / Fernando González  • 1999 Irakli Labadze / Lovro Zovko  • 2000 Marc López / Tommy Robredo  • 2001 Alejandro Falla / Carlos Salamanca  • 2002 Markus Bayer / Philipp Petzschner  • 2003 Dudi Sela / Georgy Balazs  • 2004 Pablo Andújar / Marcel Granollers  • 2005 Emiliano Massa / Leonardo Mayer  • 2006 Emiliano Massa / Kei Nishikori  • 2007 Andrei Karatchenia / Thomas Fabbiano  • 2008 Henri Kontinen / Christopher Rungkat  • 2009 Marin Draganja / Dino Marcan  • 2010 Duilio Beretta / Roberto Quiroz