The Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post
Querrey’s lightning serve helped him dictate the match to win in a quick one hour and twenty minutes.
The enthusiastic chants of the partisan New York crowd could not carry Dudi Sela to victory in his second round US Open match Wednesday evening against world No. 21 Sam Querrey.
Querrey’s lightning serve helped him dictate the match on the way to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 win in a quick one hour and twenty minutes.
“You know, he is serving big and on my service game I was playing with a lot of pressure,” Sela told The Jerusalem Post. “I was not free, the points were so quick, I didn’t feel the match I didn’t even have time to change my shirt! It was really quick and there was no rhythm. I hate these types of matches. I usually put a lot of balls back. Today I couldn’t. From the first point, I couldn’t — he hit three aces in the first game. It was really difficult.”
Querrey jumped off to a quick 1-0 lead in the first set with Sela then holding serve. Querrey went up 3-1 and Sela fought back to tie at 4-4.
Querrey closed out the 29-minute set 6-4. The second set lasted just 22 minutes, and despite putting up a better fight in the third set, Sela couldn’t muster a comeback.
“He had one look where I broke him in the first set and he broke me right back,” said Querrey. “But then I was able to break him again to win that set. And once I won the first set, I gained a little more confidence and played even more aggressive, swung more freely and started to play better and better.
“Dudi is a tricky player. He’s got a fan club behind him, and they are loud and cheering on their guy.”
Sela is set to be in action in the doubles tournament on Thursday, teaming up with Steve Darcis of Belgium to face David Marrero of Spain and Benoit Paire of France in the first round.