Local Tennis: Weintraub regains Nat’l title

Amir Weintraub claims his second Israel championship title in three years in an entertaining final at Ramat Hasharon.

By ALLON SINAI
AMIR WEINTRAUB in Ramat Hasharon 370 (photo credit: Photo Gadi)
AMIR WEINTRAUB in Ramat Hasharon 370
(photo credit: Photo Gadi)
Amir Weintraub claimed his second Israel championship title in three years on Saturday, beating Dudi Sela 4-6, 6-4, 6- 3 in an entertaining final at Ramat Hasharon.
Weintraub’s win over Sela in the 2010 national final was a massive surprise, but he has since proven his potential on several occasions, most notably in the Davis Cup, and he thoroughly deserved his victory on Saturday.
A break in the 10th game clinched the first set for Sela, ranked No. 109 in the world.
However, the match went to a decider after Weintraub (194) held his serve throughout the second set, breaking in the third game and saving two break points before closing out the set.
Sela also lost his serve in the first game of the decisive set, but he would tie the score at 3-3 with a break of his own.
However, he dropped his serve yet again in the subsequent game and Weintraub held his nerve for a confidence- boosting win ahead of the new season.
“Winning the title for a second time is not like the first, but this is still exciting,” said Weintraub.
“I’m very happy, but what is really important is that I play well in Australia next month and finally reach the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.”
Sela, who will also likely have to qualify for the Australian Open, wasn’t too upset with the defeat to his Davis Cup teammate.
“Amir played much better than me today and deserved to win,” Sela said. “I’ve changed my racket for the first time in 17 years and it is still a little tough for me. I need to get used to it. I hope Amir and I can climb up the rankings in 2013.”