Dudi Sela

Dudi Sela took the hardest hit on the rankings board dropping 20 places to #64.

Dudi Sela won the Israel Championships at Ra'anana on Friday.

Sela took home the men's crown for the first time since 2006, defeating Amir Weintraub in the finals 6-3, 7-7.

Dudi Sela defeated Noam Okun 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-final of the Israeli national tennis championships.

Jerusalem Post:

After dropping just a single game on his way to the quarterfinals of the Israel Championships in Ra'anana on Tuesday, Dudi Sela took out time to speak of his expectations for the coming year.

Sela, who defeated Moti Ma'aravi 6-1, 6-0 and will next face 2005 champion Dekel Valtzer, is first and foremost hoping to improve his game in 2010.

"I'm not setting myself a target when it comes to ranking," said Sela, who is currently at number 43 in the world. "I'm not interested if I'm in the top-10, top-20 or top-100. The most important thing is to improve as a player.

"My training with Amos Mansdorf is going well and I feel that I'm improving all the facets of my game. I'm facing a difficult year because I have many rankings points to defend. However, I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Dudi Sela, along with compatriot Harel Levy, were forced to withdraw from their matches in the Salzburg challenger yesterday due to succuming to the swine flu.

Levy said; "It seems we've become ill with swine flu. We don't feel well."

Blood tests and throat cultures administered to the pair confirmed they were both carrying the virus, and it is reported that Sela - desperately in need of points and confidence - is shattered about the recent events.

Dudi Sela is the second top 50 ranked player to join the acceptance list for the challenger in Salzburg next week, however unlike his counterpart in Kohlschreiber, the Israeli number one actually requested a wildcard from tournament organisers a week and a half ago (and was granted two days ago).

He is already entrenched in the top 50 and won't be able to elevate himself into the seedings for the Aus Open, so this just must be a confidence boosting/points-building exercise given that he has been inactive already for the last five weeks.

Just after the sacking of his coach, Dudi Sela has also announced that he will not play in Basel last week, paving the way for Horacio Zeballos into the main draw.

DUDI SELA SACKS COACH -

Dudi Sela announced on Sunday that he will team up with Amos Mansdorf on a regular basis after cutting professional ties with his former full time coach of two years Yoav Shav.

Sela has lost eight straight matches, falling to an embarrassing first round defeat to world No. 393 Shao-Xuan Zeng in the first round in Shanghai in his most recent encounter two weeks ago.

Sela stated, "I hit rock bottom when I lost to Zeng. That is a match that I should win, even if I am playing poorly."

Hey Koubek,you are moderator now? I was wondering what happend with you. But where is real Koubek? I miss him