The finalists at the Israel national tennis championships will be decided on Thursday in Ramat Hasharon.Dudi Sela and Amir Weintraub are each one win away from setting up a showdown in Friday’s title match after cruising to the last four on Wednesday.Sela, the No. 1 seed and world No. 100, beat Daniel Tamir (1,207) 6-1, 6-2 and will next play Dekel Bar (859), who defeated Israel Davis Cup player Bar Botzer (587) 6-4, 6-2.Weintraub (237) had little trouble overcoming Tal Goldengoren (877) 6-4, 6-1 and will meet long retired Noam Okun. The 37-year-old, who retired five years ago, showed he is still more than capable of competing with the young generation of local talent, defeating 18-year-old Ben Patael (746) 6-2, 7-6 (3).Julia Glushko, the women’s No. 1 seed and world No. 126, brushed aside Keren Shlomo (581) 6-2, 6-2 and isn’t expected to encounter much trouble in the semis either when she meets Shelly Krolitzky (1,202), who beat Alona Pushkarevsky (951) 7-5, 6-2.With Shahar Pe’er skipping the tournament to train in the US ahead of the new season, Glushko is a massive favorite to lift her fourth title in the past five years.“I had many ups and downs in 2015 and I learned a lot about myself and about the people around me,” said Glushko. “One of the things I learned is not to enter a tournament unless I’m 100 percent fit. I wanted to end the year ranked higher and I’m training hard in order to get the new season off to the best start possible. I want to at least enter the top 100. I should be there and my goals are far loftier.”In the other semi, Deniz Khazaniuk (298) will face 17-year-old Olga Fridman (276), who still officially represents Ukraine but is in the process of acquiring Israeli citizenship. Khazaniuk thrashed Ofri Lankri (634) 6-0, 6-1, while Fridman defeated Julia Glushko’s little sister Lena, 6-2, 7-5.The men’s doubles final on Friday will be especially intriguing this year with Sela and Weintraub set to face Yoni Erlich and Andy Ram, who came out of retirement for a week to team up with his former partner.Sela and Weintraub defeated Mor Bulis and Yankel Zemel 6-2, 7-6 (10) on Wednesday, while Ram and Erlich overcame Alon Elia and Igor Smilansky 6-3, 6-3.The women’s doubles final on Thursday will see the Glushko sisters come up against Pushkarevsky and Yael Beckman.
