China Open Tennis: Sela sailing straight on an autumn cloud

Building on Davis Cup play, Dudi thrashes top-seeded Ferrer to advance to quarters.

By ALLON SINAI
dudi sela 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
dudi sela 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Dudi Sela claimed his biggest win ever on the ATP tour on Thursday, defeating world No. 5 David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing. The 23-year-old, who is ranked 92nd in the world, won 69 percent of his service points and recorded his first ever victory over a top 10 player in an official ATP tour event. Seeded No. 1 at this tournament, Ferrer was never in the match, falling in a mere 70 minutes to a player ranked 87 spots behind him. This was Sela's second career win over a top 10 player, the first coming in last year's Davis Cup World Group playoff tie against Chile when he defeated then-world No. 6 Fernando Gonzalez. "I was very consistent and the victories in the Davis Cup gave me a lot of confidence," said Sela, who claimed two singles wins against Peru in the Davis Cup World Group playoff last weekend in Ramat Hasharon. "I understood from the start of the match what I had to do to win and it worked. I hope I can carry this momentum into the quarterfinals." Sela has never reached the semifinals of a top-line ATP event, and will now get his chance against Tommy Robredo. The sixth-seeded Spaniard, who is 16th in the world, reached the quarterfinals by beating Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3. The Israeli actually defeated Robredo in their one and only career meeting to date, winning 7-6, 6-1 in the second round of the Miami ATP Masters tournament six months ago. That event also happens to be the last tournament in which Sela managed back-to-back wins on the ATP circuit. Break point conversion was crucial on Thursday for Sela, as he converted all four of his opportunities while saving six of Ferrer's seven chances. Sela, who hasn't played in an ATP quarterfinal since October 2007 in Tokyo, opened a quick 3-0 lead in the first set and despite being broken in the fifth game, broke back immediately in the subsequent game and went on to hold serve to take the set. After splitting the first four games of the second set, Sela broke at love in the fifth game and wrapped up the victory with another break in the ninth game of the set. In other action on Thursday, Andy Roddick overcame a Davis Cup hangover and jet lag to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open. Despite falling behind early, the second-seeded Roddick defeated fellow American Brendan Evans 6-4, 6-3. Both Roddick and Ferrer had byes in the first round and some extra days off following Spain's emotional Davis Cup semifinal victory last weekend over the United States in Madrid. But it was Roddick who was ready to rebound despite falling behind early against Evans. "From 4-2 down in the first set I started feeling a little better," Roddick said. "It's a little tough going from clay last weekend in Spain to dealing with the jet lag and what not." Roddick was mentored by Andre Agassi as a young player. After the match, he gave his younger compatriot a few tips. "I told Evans I thought he took his foot off the accelerator a little bit when he was up in the match," Roddick explained. "And maybe he stopped being as aggressive as he was to get in the lead, and that allowed me to get a rhythm." Ferrer beat Roddick in a grueling five-set match in the Davis Cup. He didn't look for excuses Thursday, noting Sela had also played Davis Cup against Peru in Israel before traveling to China. "I was maybe a little bit tired and didn't sleep well these last two nights," Ferrer said. "That's no excuse. He played better than me. It's not a good day for me." In other matches, No. 7 Rainer Schuettler beat Jean-Claude Scherrer 6-1, 6-4, Bjorn Phau of Germany beat Sam Querrey of the United States 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain defeated Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-4. Shahar Pe'er will also be in quarterfinal action on Friday when she faces American veteran Jill Craybas (70th in the world) in the last eight of the Korea Open in Seoul. AP contributed to this report