Top players in first round of national championships

Sela: “This is my first competitive match in a long time and I hope I continue to improve from here.”

By ALLON SINAI
Julia Glushko 311 (photo credit: (Israel Tennis Association))
Julia Glushko 311
(photo credit: (Israel Tennis Association))
Israel’s top tennis players made light work of their opponents on Tuesday as they cruised into the quarterfinals of the national championships in Ra’anana.
Dudi Sela had the most trouble, but even he only lost five games in a 6-4, 6-1 win over 16-year-old Alon Aliya.
“This is my first competitive match in a long time and I hope I continue to improve from here,” said Sela, who is looking to regain the national title after losing in the final to Amir Weintraub last year. “As I said before the tournament, there are no easy matches and I’m ready for the next challenge. I hope I can do better than last year and leave with the title this time.”
Sela faces Dekel Bar in the last eight on Wednesday after Bar beat Dor Belfer 6-3, 6-2.
Weintraub, the number 2 seed in the tournament, brushed aside Nikita Suifer 6- 1, 6-1 and will come up against Sa’ar Steele, who beat Guy Michaelevich 6-1, 6-2.
In the remaining quarterfinals, Gilad Ben-Zvi plays Tal Goldengorn and Amit Inbar faces Aviv Ben-Shabat.
Shahar Pe’er needed just 50 minutes to advance to the women’s quarterfinals, thrashing Ya’ar Shafir 6-1, 6-0 to set up a meeting with Sarai Sternbach on Wednesday.
Last year’s beaten finalist, Julia Glushko, also dropped just a single game and will face Libby Mesh after beating Hila Mizrahi 6-0, 6-1.
Also in the last eight, Keren Shlomo plays Liat Zimmerman and Ofri Lankri comes up against Amit Lev Ari.