Sela, Glushko both swing into second round

US Open.

By URIEL STURM
Sela at the US Open 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Sela at the US Open 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Dudi Sela dug deep on Monday night in the first round of the US Open, beating Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6(2), 6-3, 6- 7(2), 5-7, 6-4 in a thrilling fivesetter at Flushing Meadows.
Then, in an even bigger Israeli surprise, Julia Glushko also advanced to the second round in New York with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 victory over 20th-seeded Nadia Petrova late Tuesday.
It was the first win in the main draw of a grand slam of the 23- year-old Glushko’s career. It was an especially tough performance, considering it came against a highly heralded opponent and also after three rounds of qualifying last week.
Petrova entered the tournament having not played since Wimbledon due to injury and the 128th-ranked Glushko was able to exploit some of the Russian’s rust to pull it out.
In the most telling stat, Glushko managed to break Petrova three times, while only being broken once in a match which took just one hour, 12 minutes.
In the second round, Glushko will face the winner of the firstround contest between Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and American Sachia Vickery.
Sela’s match, which took three hours and 59 minutes to complete, featured wild swings of momentum, but ultimately ended in Sela – currently ranked 77th in the word – winning for the first time in the main draw of a grand slam in two years.
More than the physical toll the marathon match took on Sela, the 28-year-old Israeli displayed an iron will and strong mental fortitude after giving up a two set to none lead against Kuznetsov, ranked No. 129.
With the tide seemingly having turned in favor of the Russian, Sela maintained his composure held on. The final set featured seven combined breaks of serve, with Sela gaining the crucial advantage, 4-3, to propel him to victory.
Sela – who matched his best result at the US Open with the second-round showing – made just seven unforced errors over the course of the match (Kuznetsov made only eight), but also hit only two winners (to Kuznetsov’s eight).
Still, the Israeli took the totalpoints tally 187-183 and ultimately earned what matters most, namely at least one more match in the tournament.
Up next for Sela is a much stiffer test, in the form of 18thseeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic, who advanced after his firstround foe, Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, retired with Tipsarevic leading 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3.