Eyal Ran's team dismantles Peru 4-1 in stirring playoff tie at Ramat Hasharon.
By JEREMY LASTSela 224.88(photo credit: AP)
Just under two months ago, Dudi Sela threatened to quit Israel's Davis Cup team in protest against the Israeli Olympic Committee's decision not to include him on the squad for the Beijing Games.
But the tempestuous 23-year-old changed his mind, and on Sunday he catapulted the national team back into the elite World Group top 16 with a superb performance to beat Peru's number one, Luis Horna, 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, in the fourth match of the World Group playoff.
It was the second time in a year that Sela came through for Israel in front of the feisty crowd at the Ramat Hasharon Tennis Center, having produced a stunning showing in defeating world No. 6 Fernando Gonzalez in five sets last September.
Following Saturday's doubles win by Andy Ram and Harel Levy combined with Sela's win over Ivan Miranda on Friday, Sela's victory gave Israel an unassailable 3-1 lead over Peru, guaranteeing that the home team won the tie.
The victory was later punctuated by Noam Okun's 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over Ivan Miranda, ensuring a final score of 4-1 to Israel.
Sela told a post-match press conference that he "loves" playing for the national team and he sees Israel captain Eyal Ran as the "best captain in the world."
But he also added that he has no regrets about the comments he made after he was knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round and was told he would not be going to the Olympics as he had not fulfilled the Olympic Committee of Israel's criteria of being in the world's top 50.
"I was very disappointed by the Olympic Committee in Israel's decision not to send me. I thought why play in the Davis Cup? It's not like I'm making money from it," Sela said. "I decided that the Davis Cup would be my second priority. But I love playing for my team and that is most important."
Israel will now be included in Tuesday's draw for the World Group where it could face any of the eight seeded nations.
According to the Davis Cup system, Israel could play Russia, Germany or Argentina at home or play Spain, France or Sweden away. If Israel draws the US or Croatia, the remaining two teams, a draw will be held to determine home court.
Like last year, Sela had the hopes of a nation on his shoulders when he played Horna on Sunday. And it began to show as he struggled towards the end of the lengthy opening set which lasted just over an hour.
The first five games stayed on serve before the Israeli was broken to go 4-2 down. He immediately broke back, forcing Horna to unsuccessfully dive for the ball and bloody his arm.
In the ensuing tie break, Sela let his nerves get the better of him, squandering two set points after he was 6-4 up and then hitting a volley into the net to lose 8-6 and drop the set.
It was a tense moment for the man from Kiryat Shmona, who tossed his racket to the floor in anger.
The second set didn't start much better and, after Sela went 2-0 down, he let his frustration get the better of him, smashing his racket to the ground and breaking it, receiving a warning for racket abuse.
However he took a moment to compose himself and came back determined to win as Horna began to tire.
"He played very well at the start there wasn't much I could do," Sela said afterwards. "But I saw him getting tired and began to take control."
Sela broke in the final game of the set, which he won, and the flow was with the Israeli, who then rattled off six straight games in the third set to take it 6-1. He had few problems closing out the three-hour match in the fourth to the delight of the crowd.
"I was a little tired but I believe Dudi was tired also, so it is not an excuse," Horna said. "We lost to a great team."
Ran was clearly happy with the result which gave him another shot at advancing past the first round of the World Group after February's agonizing final day-loss to Sweden.
"We had lots of difficulties such as the injury to Yoni [Erlich who pulled out with an elbow issue last week]," he said. "In the end what happened was the players played for the flag. I'm happy Dudi played great tennis on both days."
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