BREAKING NEWS

Tennis: Sela serves up success in Shenzhen

MARCH 28, 2016 05:49

Dudi Sela enters this week’s Israel Open in Ra’anana brimming with confidence after reaching a personal landmark by claiming his 20th career title on the ATP Challenger Tour on Sunday, beating China’s Di Wu 6-4, 6-3 in the final in Shenzhen, China.

The 30-year-old Israeli, ranked No. 84 in the world, is set to rise almost 20 places when the new rankings are released on Monday morning, returning to the top 70 for the first time since March 2014.

Sela, who lifted his first title of the year after falling in the final of the Challenger event at Happy Valley, Australia, in January, needed just 63 minutes to secure the victory over Wu (175), holding his serve throughout the match after winning 29-of-34 points on his first serve.

Sela also closed on the all-time title record on the Challenger circuit, moving within two of Yen-Hsun Lu’s 22 triumphs.

The Israeli will return home on Monday ahead of his participation in the Israel Open, a $125,000 Challenger tournament.

Sela, who is the No. 3 seed and was drawn on Sunday to face Israeli wild-card Tal Goldengoren in the first round, could move into the top 60 should he do well in Ra’anana, which would be his highest ranking in almost six years.

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