Tennis: Sela triumphs in solid return to the hardcourt

The 24-year-old, who climbed one place to a career-high No. 29 in the world on Monday, is seeded second in the tournament and will next face qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. (158).

By ALLON SINAI
Dudi Sela 248.88 (photo credit: AP)
Dudi Sela 248.88
(photo credit: AP)
Dudi Sela opened his campaign at the Indianapolis Championships by defeating American Vincent Spadea 7-5, 6-1 late Tuesday. The 24-year-old, who climbed one place to a career-high No. 29 in the world on Monday, is seeded second in the tournament and will next face qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. (158). "It's my first time on a hard court surface in four months," said Sela, who last week helped Israel upset Russia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. "I'm happy to be in the second round. I had a good performance in Davis Cup last week, so hopefully, it's all up." Meanwhile, top-seeded Dmitry Tursunov defeated Michael Berrer of Germany 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 on Tuesday. Tursunov, the runner-up here a year ago and winner at Indianapolis in 2007, returned to action after a three-week layoff, which resulted in him missing Russia's visit to Israel. In women's action, Shahar Pe'er, who dropped four places to number 62 in the world earlier this week, suffered yet another disappointing defeat on Wednesday, losing 6-2, 6-1 to Yaroslava Shvedova (57) in the second round of the Nuernberger Gastein Ladies tournament in Austria.