Israeli will play American star for second time in career after powering past Muller.
By JEREMY LASTRoddick 311(photo credit: Associated Press)
Dudi Sela will face former champion Andy Roddick in the last 16 at London’s Queens Club after completing a 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller on Wednesday.The match had begun on Tuesday but only the first set was played before bad light stopped play, forcing its conclusion to be delayed till Wednesday.The 25-year-old Israeli is aiming to repeat his impressive grass court displays of last season which saw him reach the fourth round of Wimbledon.Roddick, who had a bye in the first round, had an easy time in his second round match against Igor Kunitsyn on Tuesday. The American No. 4 seed won 6-2, 6-1 in only 50 minutes, the quickest victory of the day.This will be only the second time Sela, currently ranked 63 in the world, has faced Roddick (7).The man from Kiryat Shmona played Roddick in the final of the Beijing tournament in 2008, where he put up a good fight but lost in straight sets.Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal, playing his first match since winning the French Open, beat Brazil’s Marcos Daniel 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the grasscourt tournament.The Spaniard comfortably made the transition from the clay of Roland Garros to grass, staying in control throughout Wednesday’s rain-interrupted match.Play was stopped by light rain with Nadal leading 2-1 in the second set, and the Spaniard signed autographs as he left the court.When play resumed after a 14- minute delay, Nadal broke at love to lead 4-2 when Daniel made a forehand error.
It was Nadal’s first match on grass since beating Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final.Nadal beat Robin Soderling in the French Open final Sunday to supplant Federer at No. 1 in the rankings.AP contributed to this report.