Dudi Sela

FLUSHING, New York – A handful of Israeli players fought for the chance to qualify for the prestigious U.S Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, which began plan on August 26 and will wrap up on Sept. 9. The U.S. Open is the world’s highest attending sporting event, with more than 700,000 fans expected to attend.

Dudi Sela, ranked 76 in the world and a member of Israel’s Davis Cup team, automatically qualified for the main draw of the tournament. In the week leading up to the Open, Sela participated in an Israel Tennis Center clinic in Manhattan, playfully rallyng with New York Junior Tennis League tennis students, as well as with nine-year-old Israeli hopeful Neria Yona. Sela arrived a week early to the Open to practice with his coach and other main draw players, and to watch countryman Amir Weintraub’s third round qualifying match. Sela won two Challenger tournaments this summer and has acclimated to his new Wilson Blade tennis racket; he switched rackets several months ago and reports, “I had a tough time getting adjusted to my new racket.”

On opening day, Sela took on Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in a nail-biting match. Sela was down 4-1 in the first set, but battled back to take it 7-6. He then won the second set 6-3, but lost next two sets 6-7 and 5-7. With the men tied at two sets each – and with his countrymen and Open doubles players Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich in the stands – Sela won the fifth set 6-4 for the match. Exhausted, he fell to the ground, then stood up and proceeded to pose with every single fan seeking a photo and/or an autograph.

Julia Glushko won her first round match .

Julia Glushko, who played in last year’s U.S. Open and is currently ranked 128, battled her way through three matches in the qualifiers to earn a spot on the main draw.  She won her first match on August 27 against 20th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia. While Glushko needed three qualifying round wins to make the main draw, coach Liran Kling, in an interview with the Ledger following her first round qualifiers match, noted proudly, “Now, people expect Julia to qualify [for the main draw of major tournaments]; it is not like last year when she was a surprise.”

Weintraub, ranked 188 and also a member of the Davis Cup team, spent three weeks in New England this summer playing for the Boston Lobsters World Team Tennis team. He won two matches in the qualifying tournament, which took place the week before the Open, but in the third round match, a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Argentinean Maximo Gonzalez prevented him from making the main draw.

Shahar Peer, ranked 79 and coming off her first tournament win in four years with a victory over 19-year-old Saisai Zheng of China at the Caoxijiu Suzhou Ladies Open, was the number one seed in the qualifiers. Peer, whose up and down career has taken her as high as number 11 in the world, suffered a disappointing 6-4, 7-6 defeat in the first round of the qualifiers to Russian Ksenia Pervak.

Also getting ready for their first-round matches, as the Ledger went to press, were doubles partners Ram and Erlich, as well as Shahar Peer, who was scheduled to play womens doubles. One Israeli junior, Or Ram-Harel, may attempt to qualify for the juniors main draw.

Once again this year, kosher tennis fans will be able to feast at the open, thanks to New Jersey resident Jonathan Katz, owner and operator of Kosher Sports, and his staff, who will be operating a cart outside of court 12.

The Kosher Grill cart at the US Open is a popular food stop for fans.

“This is our tenth U.S. Open,” Katz told the Ledger. Among the items diners will find on his cart: chipotle chicken wrap, crispy chicken wrap, Italian sausage with peppers and onions, sliced steak sandwich, knishes, franks, and overstuffed pastrami sandwiches. All meats are Glatt kosher and all breads are Pas Yisrael; the cart is under supervision of the Star-K and will be open each day of the Open, except Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah.

Katz was not particularly concerned about loss of business due to the Jewish holidays.  “We’ve had Rosh Hashanah fall during the US Open before. He says, “The main factor affecting sales is the weather!”  The cart closes at 4 pm on Fridays.  Katz concludes, “We are looking forward to another successful US Open!”

(Source: http://www.jewishledger.com)

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Original article published on the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Post Children’s Articles

Last month we brought you Shahar Peer. This month, the spotlight is on Dudi Sela, Israel’s leading male tennis champion.

Dudi Sela began playing tennis at age seven at the Israel Tennis Centre in Kiryat Shmoneh, which is in the north of Israel. He remembers spending time as a boy in bomb shelters when his town was bombed by Lebanon. Dudi also remembers watching hisbrother, Ofer, play in tennis tournaments. Tennis seems to run in the Sela family! Soon after the Sela parents immigrated to Israel from Romania, his father Michael, a bus driver, and brother Ofer, 13 years Dudi’s senior, began taking tennis lessons—and both became top players in their respective age groups. When Dudi was three years old, he picked up Ofer’s racket and fell in love with tennis. In fact, when Dudi was ten, he began commuting (by plane!) twice a week to Ramat Hasharon, the tennis capital of Israel. When Dudi was showing promise as a juniors player, the whole family relocated to the Tel Aviv area to be closer to the tennis center.

Dudi has three older siblings, Nir, Shirley and the aforementioned Ofer, who is one of his coaches. Sela loves soccer and supports teams of Kiryat Shmonna as well as Manchester United. His mother, Anca, is a nurse. He also loves hanging out with friends on the beaches of Tel Aviv.

Earlier in 2009, Dudi Sela put Israel on the tennis map during the Davis Cup’s quarterfinal men’s singles match which was played at Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv. To the home crowd’s delight, Sela beat Russian tennis champion Mikhail Youzny to earn a place the semifinals. D’ash American correspondent, Howard Blas, had the opportunity to catch up with Israel’s tennis pride during the US Open. Here’s what he had to say:

Dudi, how many times have you played in the US Open? What is your current ATP ranking? My current ranking is 35. This is my 3rd US Open.

There are only a few tournaments played in Israel. Do you enjoy playing overseas? Yes, of course especially when I win! It is tough but I enjoy traveling and playing overseas. It would be better if a few more tournaments were in Israel, but unfortunately they are not.

You have had a very exciting 2009. You qualified for and then reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open. What was that like for you, getting in the main draw, defeating Schutter and Hanescu, then taking Tsonga to 4 sets? Regarding the Australian Open – It is a good feeling to win in a Grand Slam. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be in a Grand Slam (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open are considered Grand Slam events – ed). In Australia, I went all the way through the qualifiers. It gave me confidence in the tournament and into the next few months.

You had a great year playing for Israel in the Davis Cup. You beat the Swedes, then you had an amazing win against the Russians. Was the match against Johannson TRULY the biggest win of your career? No. The win against Russia in the next round of the Davis Cup was my best win. It was the best feeling winning in the Davis Cup, and it was very special to beat the Russians.

You were reportedly confident that you could beat the Russians in the Davis Cup and you DID In Israel! How did you know it was possible? Can you describe what that was like? I knew we would win because we played at home, and because all of our players were in good shape. I had just come from the 4th round at Wimbledon. We had luck and we knew there would be big surprises!.

What’s your greatest challenge as an athlete? To stay in the top 50 for the next 10 years! What’s your greatest challenge as an Israeli athlete? I don’t know about challenges so much, but the most special moment for me as an Israeli athlete was playing in the Davis Cup this year. It was very special. The ceremony, hearing the national anthem, these made me very emotional. It was special playing for my country and giving 100% each match. I loved it!.

When competing overseas, do you find a lot of Israeli/Jews come to support you? Yes, especially in New York and Australia where there are lots of Jews and Israelis. I feel people behind me and they push me!.

How does Israel’s prowess on the tennis court affect public opinion about Israel, in your opinion? I don’t think the way we play tennis affects it. People think what they want to think.

Can you tell our readers about your army service? I was in a sports unit. I mostly did community service any time I was in Israel. For example, if I was in Israel for a few weeks at a time, I did community service in different places around the country.

Do you feel special being an Israeli athlete? If so, how? Yes! I love to play for my country and to represent my country. All Israeli tennis players feel this and do whatever we can to represent Israel well.

If you had a message for all of your fans out there, Israeli, Jewish or otherwise, what would it be? Good question. That I love them. That I will try my best to be who I am Dudi Sela.

Favorite food? Schnitzel with mashed potatoes like my father!.

Do you have any hobbies? Other than soccer!? The beach in Tel Aviv, sheshbesh (backgammon) on the beach, soccer and hanging out with my friends!.

Favorite Color? Blue.

Favorite City? Melbourne, Australia.

In a relationship? Yes, I have a girlfriend.

What would you do if you were NOT a pro tennis player? That is a good question….maybe be a veterinarian.

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