Tenns: Sela sent packing early in tuneup for French Open

Player loses to Julien Benneteau of France 7-5, 6-1 in first round of Austrian Open.

By ALLON SINAI, AP
Dudi Sela 248.88 (photo credit: AP)
Dudi Sela 248.88
(photo credit: AP)
Dudi Sela will enter next week's French Open without a victory on clay this year following his 7-5, 6-1 loss to Julien Benneteau of France in the first round of the Austrian Open on Tuesday. Sela, who climbed to a career-best ranking of No. 55 in the world on Monday, has lost all three of his matches on clay so far this year and will be entering Roland Garros with little confidence. Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko withdrew earlier Tuesday from the same tuneup event due to a muscle injury in his left leg. In other action on the court Tuesday, qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru beat Jelena Dokic 6-4, 6-3 Tuesday in the first round of the Warsaw Open. The 106th-ranked Olaru broke twice in each set and only dropped serve once in the match at the clay-court tournament. Once ranked as high as No. 4 in 2002, Dokic's career stalled and four years later she tumbled to No. 617, before a recent resurgence lifted her to her current ranking of 72.