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Last update - 11:48 02/07/2009
Sela sinks like a rock against Serb
By Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters , By Nir Wolf
Tags: Israel news, Israel news

It took only 89 minutes and three sets for fourth seed Novak Djokovic to show Dudi Sela the exit gate from Wimbledon yesterday, defeating the upstart Israeli 6-2 6-4 6-1.

For Israelis, the excitement of the historic day ended all too early. They filled the stands, cheering "Dudi" and "Nola" (Djokovic's nickname) while waving blue-and-white flags. Israel had not seen an Israeli tennis player in a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Amos Mansdorf made it in the 1992 Australian Open.

But it was not to be, and the match was decided by the second set. The Serb served up 11 aces and broke Sela mentally by not allowing him to develop his game. Sela fought hard, making only 18 unforced errors, but it was not enough for the moment.
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"I started the game nervous and finished nervous," said Sela after the match. "I was excited, and that played a role. I was tense because it was my first time in the second week of a Grand Slam. I had some chances here and there, but I was not aggressive. I'm not used to two days of rest between matches. Djokovic is, because he makes it to the second week of almsot every Grand Slam."

Sela, who was ranked 46th in the world but will move up to somewhere near the 33rd spot after this tournament, gave Djokovic a lot of credit. "His second serve was amazing, and I didn't expect that," he said. "In general, his serves killed my game. In contrast, I did not serve well this time and gave him a lot of easy balls. I could not get over the net like against Schuttler and Robredo."

Sela will now return to Israel hoping to maintain his momentum going into next week's Davis Cup quarterfinal match against Russia. He returns a new man with raised expectations.

"I have points to defend in the coming weeks, so I'll be happy to stay in the top 40," he said.

The other remaining Israeli in Wimbledon, Andy Ram, played in the third round of the men's doubles tournament yesterday with his Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi against the team of Swede Simon Aspelin and Australian Paul Hanley.

Although favored, the duo struggled in the first set, getting trounced 6-2. The pair then took two of the next three sets, all three decided 7-6. The final set was tied 2-2 at press time.

Ferrero claims spot in final eight

Spanish wildcard Juan Carlos Ferrero swept through to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the second time in three years yesterday, downing French eighth seed Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion who grew up playing on clay, took a tight first set 7-4 on the tiebreak in a little over an hour. It was something of a breeze thereafter for the Spaniard, who was a surprise quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2007 but now looks perfectly at home on grass.

The second set took 31 minutes and Ferrero took a 4-1 lead in the third before wrapping it up in just 25 minutes, with Simon producing far too many unforced errors to stay in touch. Ferrero will face either British third seed Andy Murray or Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who were starting their fifth set at press time, for a place in the semifinals.
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