Dudi Sela

Began playing tennis at age seven at Israel Tennis Centre in Kiryat Shmonna...Father, Michael, is a bus driver; mother, Anca, is a nurse...Has two brothers (Ofer, tennis coach and Nir, real estate agent) and a sister (Shirley), all older...Admires former Israeli No. 1 Amos Mansdorf and Roger Federer...Enjoys going to the beach and surfing in Netanyia, Israel...Also likes soccer and supports teams of Kiryat Shmonna and Manchester United...Favorite shot is backhand and prefers to play on hard courts...Best tennis memory is beating Fernando Gonzalez in a five hour marathon in Davis Cup in his home country in September 2007 as Israel beat Chile to reach 2008 World Group...Has a 12-7 career Davis Cup singles record in 10 ties...Coached by countryman Yoav Schab (since April 2007).

2002 -- Advanced to four Futures QF in seven tournaments...

2003 -- Won first pro title at Australia Futures #1 (d. Baccanello) and in July captured first Challenger crown at Togliatti on hard (d. Brzezicki)...Also runner-up at Italy Futures #8 (l. to Tenconi)...

2004 -- Best result was SF at Covington Challenge and QF in four other Challengers...

2005 -- Compiled a 21-11 record in Challengers, winning back-to-back titles in Lexington (d. Reynolds) and Vancouver (d. Baccanello)...Climbed from No. 230 to No. 158 in two weeks...Also winner at Australia #2 Futures in Gosford (d. Kadir)...Reached SF at Burnie Challenger and QF at Kyoto and Tarzana Challengers...Qualified for first Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros and lost to No. 1 Federer in straight sets...Made Davis Cup debut vs. Zimbabwe and went 1-1 in singles...

2006 -- Captured five USTA Futures titles between September and November...Advanced to SF at Kyoto Challenger and QF in five other Challengers...

2007 -- The top Israeli became first player from his country to finish in Top 100 since Harel Levy in 2001...Compiled a 33-14 match record in Challenger play with two titles and went 10-5 (all on hard courts) in ATP level competition, highlighted by his first ATP QF showing...Also led his country back into Davis Cup World Group in 2008 by winning both of his singles matches in playoff tie (was 5-1 during year)...Won title at Togliatti (d. Ledovskikh) and reached final in Cordoba (l. to Menendez) in July...Also a SF in Lanzarote and Saransk...Qualified for US Open and defeated N. Lapentti before losing to Monaco in four sets in 2nd RD...Finished season strongly by winning both of his Davis Cup matches over Chile's Massu (in 5:07) and No. 6 Gonzalez in five-sets marathon (5:01) to lead Israel into World Group...He is first player to win two five-hour plus Davis Cup matches in same tie...Followed by reaching QF in Tokyo (l. to Gasquet) and won Seoul Challenger title (d. Economidis)...In doubles, won Taiwan Challenger (w/S. Amritraj) and reached final at Lanzarote Challenger (w/Okun).

2008 -- Israel's top player finished in Top 100 for second straight year, highlighted by reaching his first ATP final...Achieving a personal-best 17 match wins in ATP competition and also won a Challenger title...Reached 2nd RD at Australian Open for second straight year (d. Slanar, l. to Karlovic). In February, went 1-1 in Israel's 3-2 loss to Sweden in 1st RD World Group action (d. Bjorkman, l. to T. Johansson).  Made ATP Masters Series debut at Indian Wells and reached 2nd RD (d. Kiefer, l. to Tsonga).  Followed with 3rd RD at AMS Miami (d. No. 14 Robredo in 2nd, l. to Acasuso).  On clay, reached 2nd RD at Houston (l. to Odesnik) and Poertschach (l. to Seppi).  Lost in 1st RD of next six ATP tournaments before reaching 2nd at Washington (l. to del Potro) and New Haven (l. to Verdasco).  During that stretch, reached QF at Lexington Challenger and followed with title at Vancouver (d. Kim).  Helped lead Israel into 2009 Davis Cup World Group by winning both his singles matches vs Peru (d. Miranda, Horna)...Then reachd his first ATP final in Beijing without dropping a set (d. No. 5 Ferrer, No. 16 Robredo, l. to Roddick)...Became first Israeli to reach an ATP final since Harel Levy in Nottingham in June 2001...Earned a career-high $309,752.

2009

The top Israeli became first player from his country to finish in Top 50 since Amos Mansdorf was No. 25 in 1993…Won a career-best 18 matches, reached a career-high No. 29 in July and helped Israel to Davis Cup semi-finals for first time…Opened season by qualifying and reaching 3rd RD at Australian Open with wins over Top 50 opponents Schuettler and Hanescu before losing to No. 7 Tsonga in four sets…Following month, qualified and advanced to his second career ATP World Tour SF in Memphis (l. to Stepanek)…In March, rallied from 1-2 set deficits against Sweden’s Vinciguerra and Johansson to win second and fourth rubbers in five sets to lead Israel to a 3-2 victory…In his second appearance at Wimbledon, reached 4th RD (d. Schuettler, Robredo, l. to Djokovic), becoming first Israeli to reach 4th RD or better in a Grand Slam since Mansdorf (QF)at ’92 Australian Open…Followed with four-set win over Russia’s Youzhny in second rubber of QF tie (Israel lost to Spain in SF)…After reaching QF in Los Angeles in late July (l. to eventual champion Querrey), lost last seven matches of season…Earned a career-high $393,989.