Dudi Sela ousts Mark Verryth in the opening round - Challenger of Granby 2011 CH
In the opening round of the National Bank’s Challenger of Granby, the top seed Dudi Sela of Israel had no real trouble in disposing off the unseeded Australian, Mark Verryth, on Monday.
The contest took place at the hard courts of Granby, Canada, with the Israeli forcing his way through Verryth to wrap up straight sets victory at 6-4, 6-3, taking merely one hour and six minutes of play to advance to the second
round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event.
The contest appeared pretty one-sided throughout, with Sela dominating most of the time and concluding victory in the most comprehensive manner. Verryth proved a mismatch for the Israeli competitor and had to submit the contest
to the belligerent Sela in the second set.
Rated at number 81 in the ATP world rankings, Sela exhibited his tennis skills far better than his rankings suggest. The 26-year-old had a brilliant start to the contest and showed his aggressive intent early in the game by launching
frequent forays to the net. His 72 per cent precise serve earned him 15 out of 18 first serve points in the opener and he was further assisted by six costly double faults from his opponent. One serve break proved sufficient for Sela to reach set point at 5-4
and then the top seed served out of the opening set at 6-4 to lead one set to none in the contest.
Verryth’s errant stroke play continued in the following set as well, with the Australian miss-hitting a number of easy shots, only to land long or wide of the court. Five more double faults were recorded on Verryth’s part in the
second set, which spooned some un-fought points to Sela to push him closer to victory.
The Israeli stuck to his aggressive approach in the second set as well and keep clinching points on regularity to drive the Aussie from the competition. Verryth stung his first serve break of the day in the third game but Sela
avenged it with three cracking break points leave him answerless. The Israeli eventually sealed a comprehensive victory at 6-3, with a forceful forehand winner to get into the second round of the Challenger Tour event.
Sela’s next opponent in the second round will be Rajeev Ram of the United States, who won his opening round clash against the Canadian qualifier, Jean-Francois Berard, in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
Tags: