Cedrik-Marcel Stebe eases past Dudi Sela to grab the trophy – ATP Challenger Tour Finals 2011
Fifth seed Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany stomped over fourth seed Dudi Sela of Israel in straight sets at the ATP Challenger Tour Finals 2011, a tournament run by Association of Tennis Professionals and held on the indoor hard
courts in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He registered a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the 26-year-old Israeli to grab the title on Sunday.
After losing the opening round match against Sela on Wednesday, the German number five Stebe corrected his flaws in the title round and avenged his defeat against the Israeli number one.
Ranked 103rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Stebe confidently entered Ginásio do Ibirapuera and held his opening serve to take the initial lead. After the Israeli kept his second serve in the fourth
game, the German unleashed flurry of groundstrokes to swipe in last four games in a row and sealed the opener with a 6-2 win.
21-year-old German kept momentum sailing into the final set and continued his impressive run by striking out the opening three games. Stebe then kept remaining serves until he lost his edge in the ninth game. However, the German
broke Sela’s serve again in the last game to clinch the set with a 6-4 success.
Overall, Stebe broke a former world number twenty-nine’s serve four times from his eight breakpoint opportunities, eventually sealing the deal in eighty-six minutes on their second meeting.
"I can't believe it yet," admitted Stebe. "It was a great tournament, so many nice people. [Sela] is a really good player, he played already in the Top 30, and it's an amazing feeling to beat a player like this. I started a little
weak (this week) but I kept trying to do my best and get back to my game and it worked out in the end. I was more aggressive and that's how it should be."
It was Stebe’s best season so far as he was out of the top 400 in the rankings in February but after lifting two titles in Bangkok (where he defeated Israeli Amir Weintraub in the final) and in Shanghai (where he overpowered Russian
Alexandre Kudryavtsev), he cracked into the top 100 last month (his career high rank). The German also made a title-round showing in Japan where he stunned top seeded local hero Go Soeda and reached the last four in Guangzhou, Pingguo, Oberstaufen and Ningbo
Challenger events.
Sela on the other side bagged three titles (in Busan, Fergana and Nottingham) before entering this event.
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