Dudi Sela

David "Dudi" Sela (Hebrew: דודי סלע‎; born April 4, 1985) is an Israeli professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 29 in July 2009. As of January 2018, Sela is Israel's top men's singles player.

Dudi Sela
דודי סלע
Country (sports) Israel
ResidenceTel Aviv, Israel
Born (1985-04-04) April 4, 1985
Kiryat Shmona, Israel
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Turned pro2002
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CoachYoav Ben Zvi
Prize moneyUS$3,916,184
Singles
Career record143–195 (42.3% in Grand Slam and ATP World Tour main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
23 Challengers
Highest rankingNo. 29 (20 July 2009)
Current rankingNo. 206 (16 March 2020)[2]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open3R (2009, 2015, 2016)
French Open2R (2009, 2015)
Wimbledon4R (2009)
US Open2R (2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2016)
Doubles
Career record26–48 (35.1%)
Career titles1
5 Challengers
Highest rankingNo. 122 (22 February 2010)
Current rankingNo. 421 (16 December 2019)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open2R (2010)
French Open2R (2010, 2012)
Wimbledon2R (2016)
US Open3R (2009, 2017)
Team competitions
Davis CupSF (2009)
Last updated on: 22 March 2020.

He won the French Open 2003 junior doubles title. Representing Israel in the Davis Cup, highlights include an upset win in 2007 over World No. 7 Fernando González and being a key factor in Israel's semifinal run in 2009. In 2008 he beat World No. 5 David Ferrer in straight sets, and in 2010 he beat World No. 7 Andy Roddick in straight sets. Sela reached the fourth round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships and has finished runner-up in two ATP tournaments in Beijing and Atlanta. In 2015, he won his 24th Challenger event of his career, moving him into sole possession of second place on the all-time list of Challenger title wins.

Early life

Sela was born and raised in Kiryat Shmona, an Israeli city near the Israel-Lebanon border.[3] His father Michael, a bus driver, and mother Anca, a nurse from a Jewish family, immigrated to Israel from Romania.[4][5] His family name was originally Sălăjean, but his father changed it so that it would be more easily pronounced in Israel.

At the age of two, Dudi, diminutive of David, had his hands on his first racket, and at the age of seven he began to play tennis.[6][7] His tennis idols were his brother Ofer, who was a top 200 player, and the Israeli Amos Mansdorf.[4][3]

At age 18, Sela was exempted from conscription into the Israel Defense Forces.[8]

Juniors: 2000–03
Dudi Sela at the 2003 U.S. Open

In 2000 Sela won in doubles play with Idan Ben-Harosh in the Haifa International and in Corfu, Greece. In 2001 he won in doubles with Maor Zirkin reached the finals in singles play at the Israel International. He won his first singles title in Van Keeken of the Netherlands. He won in both singles and doubles (with Michael Ryderstedt) at the Fischer Junior Open.[9]

In 2002, Sela reached the quarterfinals in the Australian Open Junior Competition and was in the top eight at the French Open Juniors. He won at Beaulieu Sur Mer. In 2003, his final year as a junior, he reached the quarterfinals at the Roland Garros Junior singles competition and won the French Open 2003 doubles title with partner Győrgy Balázs of Hungary.[9] He made it to the semifinals at the US Open Junior Championships and won the Australia F1 tournament in Tasmania. In July he triumphed at the Togliatti competition in Russia, resulting in a new ATP ranking of 256.[10]

Sela's highest junior world rankings were No. 9 in the ITF singles rankings (in 2002) and No. 16 in doubles.

Pro career

2004–06: Top 200

His best results in 2004 were the semifinals at the Covington Challenger, and the quarterfinals in four other Challenger tournaments.[4]

Sela had a successful year on the ATP Challenger circuit in 2005, winning tournaments in Vancouver, Canada, and Lexington, Kentucky, in consecutive weeks. He had a 21–11 record in Challengers.[4]

In 2006 Sela five USTA Pro Circuit singles titles: at Claremont, California, Costa Mesa, California, Waikoloa, Hawaii, Honolulu, and at the Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[11]

2007:Breaking top 100

In January 2007, Sela qualified for the main draw of the 2007 Australian Open. In the first round he upset Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, who was ranked #56 in the world. In the second round, he lost to Marat Safin in five sets, despite starting by leading the Russian two sets to one. In April 2007, Sela lost in the semifinals in a Challenger tournament to Paul Baccanello in Lanzarote, Spain.[12]

In July 2007 he lost in the finals of the Open Diputación in Córdoba, Spain. In the tournament he defeated #47 ranked Albert Montañés. Later in July, he won a challenger title in Togliatti, Russia, his fourth career title, beating Russia's Mikhail Ledovskikh in the final.[13]

Sela then qualified for the US Open. In the first round of the main draw he defeated Nicolás Lapentti, his fourth upset of a top 100 player in the first 8 months of the year. Lapentti was once ranked as high as #6 in the world, but at the time of the match was ranked #80. Sela lost to world #23 Juan Mónaco in the second round.[12]

In October he first defeated world #51 Juan Martín del Potro at the Japan Open in Tokyo, followed by #90 Boris Pašanski. Sela won the Seoul Challenger tournament later in October, winning all five of his matches in straight sets. The win lifted him to a career-high 73 in the world.[14]

Sela had considered retiring before the start of 2008 if he did not make a breakthrough, but things came together. In October he said: "My target is to reach the top 70 within the next year."[15]

He lost in the finals of the ATP Taiwan Challenge in Kaohsiung in November to Lu Yen-hsun, but won the doubles title together with Stephen Amritraj of India.[16] He won the Keio Challenger in Yokohama the following week, losing only one set (in a tiebreaker). In December 2007, he had his revenge on Marat Safin in Saint Anton, with a straight-set win. It was his tenth win over a player in the top-100 in the year. For the year he compiled a 33–14 match record in Challenger play with two titles, went 10–5 (all on hard courts) in ATP level competition, and became the first Israeli man to finish in the top 100 since Harel Levy in 2001.[4]

2008: Breaking top 60 & first ATP final
Sela In New York (2008)

In the Australian Open, Sela won his first round match over qualifier Martin Slanar but lost his second round to world #24 Ivo Karlović.[12]

In March at the Pacific Life Open he defeated world #49 Nicolas Kiefer, then at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami he defeated world #48 Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea, and #14 Tommy Robredo of Spain in the 2nd round. In May in Austria he defeated world #80 Mischa Zverev of Germany and in July he won the Vancouver challenger, beating Kevin Kim in the final.[12]

Sela was gravely disappointed by the failure of the Israel Olympic Committee to allow him to represent Israel at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.[17] Despite the fact that Sela met the International Olympic Committee's criteria to play in the Olympics, and the Israel Tennis Association recommended that he deserved to go, the Israel Olympic Committee refused to accept the recommendation.[17] Sela said he learned he wasn't going to be permitted to go to the Olympics because "I wasn’t inside the top 50 ranked players.... I met the International Olympic Committee's criteria. But they don’t want to send me, and I don’t understand why. It's not like I’m 500th in the world, I’m 60th. When Nicolás Massú won the Olympics he was ranked 70th, so it shows anything can happen. I want to go and be the first Israeli to play in the men's singles for 20 years."[17]

In August Sela defeated world #97 Vince Spadea of the United States at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington.[18] Later in the month he beat world #99 Donald Young, in New Haven, Connecticut at the Pilot Pen tournament.[12]

Sela reached his first ATP Tour final in September at the China Open, while ranked #92. Sela, unseeded, defeated the world #61 Frenchman Nicolas Devilder in the first round. In the second round, Sela upset the first seed and world #5, David Ferrer, in straight sets. Sela continued his run by defeating the sixth seed, world #16 Tommy Robredo, and the seventh seed, world #35 Rainer Schüttler. Sela was defeated by Andy Roddick in the final. Sela became the first Israeli since Harel Levy in 2001 to reach an ATP final.[4] "Dudi reached the final and realized he had it", said his brother Ofer. "He beat top-30 players day after day.... It was the first time he proved he was no paper tiger, but one who can dish it out to everyone. He always knew he had the potential, but suddenly he understood how to fulfill it."[19]

In October, he defeated the world #72 Victor Hănescu at the Kremlin Cup.[12]

2009:Breaking top 30
Sela at the 2009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships

In the Australian Open, Sela won three rounds of qualifiers in order to make the main draw.[12] In the final round, Sela beat Grega Žemlja of Slovenia in dramatic fashion, surviving six match points.[20]

In the main draw, Sela beat 30th-seeded German veteran Rainer Schüttler, who was ranked number 31 in the world. In the second round, he defeated world number 44 Victor Hănescu of Romania, saving all 12 of Hănescu's break points. He was the first Israeli man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since Amos Mansdorf progressed to the round of 32 in Wimbledon in 1994.[21] In the round of 32, however, Sela was defeated by fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.[12]

In February at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Sela made it through two rounds of qualifying matches, and then as far as the semifinals. Along the way he beat world number 92 Robert Kendrick, world number 73 Bobby Reynolds, world number 54 Florent Serra of France, and world number 43 Igor Kunitsyn of Russia. With that, he raised his world ranking to number 65. In late February at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, he beat world number 80 Philipp Petzschner of Germany.[12] In March, he defeated world number 42 José Acasuso at the BMW Tennis Championship, but withdrew in his next match after suffering a leg injury.

In May, he reached a new career-high world ranking of number 55. That month, he won his first round match at the 2009 French Open, his first French Open victory ever, against Jean-René Lisnard of Monaco.[22] In June at the Ordina Open, he defeated world number 59 Christophe Rochus, and at 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands in a grass-court tuneup for Wimbledon, he beat world number 39 Igor Kunitsyn.[12] He again reached a career-high singles ranking, this time number 46.

In the first round at Wimbledon, Sela defeated Mexican Santiago González and in the second round, he upset 2008 semifinalist, world number 29 German Rainer Schüttler, seeded eighteenth.[23]

"I like it when there is a lot of chaos going on on the court. It reminds me of Israel. I play a lot better when it's like that."[24]

Sela, commenting on the chanting and flag-waving during his Wimbledon matches

In the third round, Sela was urged on by a contingent of supporters who for much of the first two sets chanted a Hebrew song, translated roughly as: "David, King of Israel is alive and lives on!"[25] Sela defeated world number 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain, seeded fifteenth; he is now 3–0 lifetime against Robredo.[25][26][27][28] Al Jazeera described the upset as a "shock result".[29] That advanced Sela to the round of 16, his first Grand Slam 4th round, which The Independent described as the "surprise of the week".[25][27][28][30] Sela became the first Israeli man in 20 years (since Amos Mansdorf in 1989) to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, and the fourth Israeli man ever (and first since Mansdorf at the 1992 Australian Open) to reach the fourth round in a Grand Slam.[31][32] The victory guaranteed him a payday of at least $80,000.[33][34]

Sela next sought to join Shlomo Glickstein (1981 Australian Open), Mansdorf (1992 Australian Open), and Shahar Pe'er (2007 Australian Open and 2007 US Open) as the only Israelis to have made it to a Grand Slam quarterfinal.[35] He was defeated in the fourth round, however, by the 2008 Australian Open champion, then-world number 4 Serbian Novak Djokovic.[12]

On the strength of his Wimbledon performance, Sela rose to a career-high world number 33 in July 2009.[36] Following his victory in the Davis Cup against Russia the next week, he rose again to a new career high, this time number 29, one better than the career-high of Davis Cup teammate Harel Levy.[37][38]

In late July, Sela was seeded second for the 2009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships in singles.[39] In doubles, Sela partnered American Jesse Levine and defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and Josselin Ouanna of France to make it to the quarterfinals.[40]

2010: Challenger tour success

On June 10, 2010, at the 2010 Aegon Championships, Sela upset number 4 seed, and world number 7, Andy Roddick in straight sets.[41] He won the Rhodes Challenger in May, defeating former top ten player Rainer Schuettler.[12] On August 8, 2010, he won the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open title, upsetting the first seed Taylor Dent in the semifinal and the fourth seed Ričardas Berankis in the final.[12] He has a career 15–0 in this tournament (including winning 2005 and 2008 titles).

2012–15: 100 wins & second ATP final
Dudi Sela at US Open 2013

Sela defeated American Sam Querrey in Hall of Fame Tennis championships.[42]

In March 2013, Dudi Sela reached the Round of 64 at the Miami Masters, where he lost 2–6 4–6 to world number 9 ranked player Janko Tipsarevic.[12]

In September 2013, Dudi Sela defeated Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia W 7–6(2), 6–3, 6–7(2), 5–7, 6–4 in the first round of the 2013 US Open. Sela then lost 4–6 4–6 1–6 in the second round to Janko Tipsarevic. In 2013, Dudi also won challenger events in Tashkent, Astana, and Busan. Additionally, he was also a finalist in a challenger event at Istanbul.[43]

In January 2014, Sela reached the Quarterfinals of the Chennai Open in India beating Lukas Lacko and Mikhail Youzhny before losing to Edouard Roger Vasselin. In the first round of the Australian Open, Dudi lost to Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 6–7(3), 7–6(3), 3–6, 3–6.[12]

In February, Sela reached the quarterfinals of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors where he beat Lukas Rosol and Lukas Lacko before losing to Bjorn Phau 4–6 3–6. At the Delray Beach Open in Florida, Dudi lost to John Isner 6–3, 1–6, 6–7(5) in a tight second round match.[43]

Sela achieved a notable success in 2015 at Challenger level when he won the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open for the fourth time. Sela's victory made him just the fifth man in history to win a particular ATP Challenger tournament four or more times, and also moved him into sole possession of second place on the all-time list of Challenger title wins, with 24.[44] In May 2015 he won in Batman, Turkey, defeating Blaz Kavcic in the final, in August 2015 he won in Vancouver, Canada, defeating John-Patrick Smith in the final, and in November 2015 he won in Suzhou, China.[45]

2016: Return to top 60 & first doubles title

At the 2016 Australian Open, he defeated Benjamin Becker in the first round, then defeated Fernando Verdasco (who had defeated Rafael Nadal in the first round in five sets) in four before losing to Andrey Kuznetsov in the third. After the Australian Open Sela was in bad shape and lost 4 consecutive matches, including a match against Peter Nagy who was ranked 612. However, in March he had three successful Challengers, including two Semi-Finals (Guangzhou, Ra'anana) and one title (Shenzhen).

He represented Israel in men's singles at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[46]

2017-present

In 2017, Sela reached one semifinal and two quarterfinals on the ATP Tour, and won two more Challenger Tour titles.[47] In January he won in Canberra, Australia, defeating Jan-Lennard Struff in the final, and in June he won in Nottingham, Great Britain, defeating Thomas Fabbiano in the final.[45] He also won at least one match in the three Grand Slam tournaments in which he played.[47]

Sela quit his quarterfinal match in the third set of the 2017 ATP Shenzhen Open so he could begin observing Yom Kippur by the time the sun set, forfeiting a possible $34,000 in prize money and 90 rankings points.[48][49]

In 2017, Sela concluded the year with his highest year-end ranking in eight years, at No. 67 in the world.[47]

In 2019, Sela won the 2019 Little Rock Challenger.[50] As a result of this, Sela's ranking increased to 164 in the world.

Davis Cup
Sela playing Davis Cup

In late 2005, he joined the Israeli Davis Cup team. He is 12–6 through July 2009.[51]

In April 2007 he upset Andreas Seppi, ranked #91 in the world, as Israel defeated Italy.[52]

Before the Chile-Israel Davis Cup match began in September 2007, even The Jewish Chronicle wrote: "Led by Fernando González (6) and Nicolás Massú (72), it is hard to see Israel's Dudi Sela (105) and Noam Okun (186), backed up by doubles specialists Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich, winning the contest. González and Massú are also a formidable doubles partnership, having won the Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004."[53]

That same month, before playing Nicolás Massú of Chile in the first match of the tie, Sela said: "We like being the underdog. I'm very pleased with the fact that I'm playing first and I'm very confident of claiming the win."[54] He then proceeded to upset Massu, ranked #72 in the world, and formerly ranked #9 in the world, in a 5-hour 7-minute match. "This is definitely the biggest win in my career", Sela said afterwards.[55] Later in that Davis Cup tie, Dudi Sela defeated #7 in the world Fernando González in a 5-hour 1-minute match. It is arguably the greatest tennis match ever played in Israel.[56] The victory lifted Israel over Chile and into 2008's World Group. Gonzalez was at the time the highest-ranked player Sela had ever beaten in his career (he later beat world #5 David Ferrer in Beijing in September 2008),[57] and his 6th upset of a top-100 player in the first 9 months of the year. Elated, Sela said "This is definitely the happiest day of my life." Sela was congratulated over the phone by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres after the match.[58]

In the 2008 World Group, Israel hosted Sweden in Ramat HaSharon.[59] Sela started with a win against world #71 Jonas Björkman and gave Israel an advantage of 1–0. He then lost to world #60 Thomas Johansson as Israel lost the tie 3–2. In the 2008 World Group Playoffs, Sela led the Israeli team to a 4–1 victory over Peru at Ramat Hasharon. Sela won both his singles contests, defeating Iván Miranda and Luis Horna.

In the 2009 World Group Playoffs in March 2009, Israel again faced seven-time Davis Cup champion Sweden.[60] Sela led the Israeli team to a come-from-behind 3–2 victory over the Swedes[61] at Baltic Hall in Malmö, Sweden, to advance in the 2009 Davis Cup. Sela won each of his singles matches in 5 sets, coming from behind to defeat Andreas Vinciguerra in his hometown and came from behind to stun 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson. Sela views it as the biggest win of his career to that point.[3] In their 84-year Davis Cup history, the Swedes had never before lost a tie after holding a 2–1 lead. The last time Israel's Davis Cup team reached the level of being one of the top eight tennis nations in the world was in 1987, against India.[62]

Israel (ranked 8th in the Davis Cup standings, with 5,394 points) hosted heavily favored Russia (which won in both 2002 and 2006, and was the top-ranked country in Davis Cup standings, with 27,897 points) in a Davis Cup quarterfinal tie in July 2009, on indoor hard courts at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.[63][64] Israel was represented by Sela, Harel Levy, Jonathan Erlich, and Andy Ram. Russia's lineup consisted of Marat Safin (#60 in the world; former world #1), Igor Andreev (24), Igor Kunitsyn (35), and Mikhail Youzhny (69; former world #8).[65][66] Sela said before the tie: "We feel we can beat the Russians."[67] The stage was then set by Safin, who prior to the tie told the press: "With all due respect, Israel was lucky to get to the quarterfinals."[68] The Israeli team's response was to beat the Russian team in each of their first three matches, thereby winning the tie. Levy, world #210, beat Russia's top player, Andreev, world #24 in the opening match. Sela (#33) followed by beating Russian Youzhny. Israeli captain Eyal Ran likened his players to two fighter jets on court, saying: "I felt as if I had two F-16s out there today, they played amazingly well." The 10,500 spectators were the largest crowd ever for a tennis match in Israel.[69] The next day Israelis Ram and Erlich beat Safin and Kunitsyn in front of a boisterous crowd of over 10,000.[70] Even the Saudi Gazette described the doubles match as a "thrilling" win.[71] Ran was carried shoulder-high around the Tel Aviv stadium, as the 10,000-strong crowd applauded.[72] With the tie clinched for Israel, the reverse singles rubbers were "dead", and instead of best-of-five matches, best-of-three sets were played, with the outcomes of little to no importance.[73] Israel wrapped up a 4–1 victory over Russia, as Levy defeated Kunitsyn, while Sela retired with a wrist injury while down 3–4 in the first set against Andreev.[74] Israel, however, lost to Spain in the semi-finals, 4–1.

Playing style

Sela's playing style is very fast, aggressive and viewed as a serve and volleyer by some.[33]

Coaching

During his career he has also been coached by his brother Ofer Sela, Tomi Schnitzer, Australian-born former Israeli Davis Cup coach Ron Steele, and Israelis Noam Behr, Yoav Shab, Yoram Menahem, and Amos Mansdorf.

Jewish heritage

Sela, along with Diego Schwartzman, Camila Giorgi, Julia Glushko, and Noah Rubin is one of a number of Jewish tennis players who are highly ranked.[75][76][77][78][79] "It's very special being able to play around the world", Sela said. "It is fun playing in different places because Jewish people will come out to watch me."[3][31][80]

Sela enjoys support outside of Israel from his fan brigade, known as the "Hebrew Hammer", whose chanting in both English and Hebrew aims to replicate the raucous atmosphere of tennis matches in Tel Aviv that helped him defeat the likes of González in arguably his most historic victory.[81][82] Originating at the LA Tennis Open in 2008, the Hebrew Hammer has been spotlit on telecasts by the Tennis Channel.

Personal life

Sela has two children with his wife Marina, son Elai and daughter Talia.[83] He has a brother, Ofer Sela (b. 1972).[84]

ATP career finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)
Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (0–2)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2008 China Open, China International Hard Andy Roddick 4–6, 7–6(8–6), 3–6
Loss 0–2 Jul 2014 Atlanta Open, United States 250 Series Hard John Isner 3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title)
Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–0)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (1–0)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 May 2016 Istanbul Open, Turkey 250 Series Clay Flavio Cipolla Andrés Molteni
Diego Schwartzman		 6–3, 5–7, [10–7]

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 42 (30–12)
Legend (Singles)
ATP Challenger Tour Finals (0–1)
ATP Challenger Tour (23–10)
ITF Futures Tour (7–1)
Titles by Surface
Hard (28–11)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (2–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2003 Australia F1, Burnie Futures Hard Paul Baccanello 4–3 ret.
Loss 1–1 May 2003 Italy F8, Verona Futures Clay Tomas Tenconi 6–4, 0–6, 2–6
Win 2–1 Jul 2003 Togliatti, Russia Challenger Hard Juan Pablo Brzezicki 6–2, 6–4
Win 3–1 Feb 2005 Australia F2, Gosford Futures Hard Sadik Kadir 6–1, 6–1
Win 4–1 Jul 2005 Lexington, United States Challenger Hard Bobby Reynolds 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Win 5–1 Aug 2005 Vancouver, Canada Challenger Hard Paul Baccanello 6–2, 6–3
Win 6–1 Sep 2006 USA F22, Claremont Futures Hard Sascha Klör 5–1 ret.
Win 7–1 Sep 2006 USA F23, Costa Mesa Futures Hard Robert Yim 7–5, 6–4
Win 8–1 Oct 2006 USA F27, Baton Rouge Futures Hard Izak Van der Merwe 5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Win 9–1 Nov 2006 USA F28, Waikoloa Futures Hard Lesley Joseph 6–1, 6–4
Win 10–1 Nov 2006 USA F29, Honolulu Futures Hard Fritz Wolmarans 6–3, 6–3
Loss 10–2 Jul 2007 Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard Adrián Menéndez Maceiras 4–6, 6–0, 5–7
Win 11–2 Jul 2007 Togliatti, Russia Challenger Hard Mikhail Ledovskikh 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Win 12–2 Oct 2007 Seoul, Korea, Rep. Challenger Hard Konstantinos Economidis 6–4, 6–4
Loss 12–3 Nov 2007 Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei Challenger Hard Lu Yen-hsun 3–6, 3–6
Win 13–3 Nov 2007 Yokohama, Japan Challenger Hard Takao Suzuki 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–2
Win 14–3 Aug 2008 Vancouver, Canada Challenger Hard Kevin Kim 6–3, 6–0
Win 15–3 May 2010 Rhodes, Greece Challenger Hard Rainer Schüttler 7–6(7–3), 6–3
Win 16–3 Aug 2010 Vancouver, Canada Challenger Hard Ričardas Berankis 7–5, 6–2
Win 17–3 May 2011 Busan, Korea, Rep. Challenger Hard Tatsuma Ito 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–3
Win 18–3 May 2011 Fergana, Uzbekistan Challenger Hard Greg Jones 6–2, 6–1
Win 19–3 Jun 2011 Nottingham, Great Britain Challenger Grass Jérémy Chardy 6–4, 3–6, 7–5
Loss 19–4 Nov 2011 São Paulo, Brazil Challenger Tour Finals Hard (i) Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 2–6, 4–6
Win 20–4 Sep 2012 Bangkok, Thailand Challenger Hard Yūichi Sugita 6–1, 7–5
Win 21–4 May 2013 Busan, Korea, Rep. Challenger Hard Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6–1, 6–4
Loss 21–5 Jul 2013 Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard Benjamin Becker 1–6, 6–2, 2–3 ret.
Win 22–5 Jul 2013 Astana, Kazakhstan Challenger Hard Mikhail Kukushkin 5–7, 6–2, 7–6(8–6)
Win 23–5 Oct 2013 Taskhent, Uzbekistan Challenger Hard Teymuraz Gabashvili 6–1, 6–2
Loss 23–6 Nov 2014 Helsinki, Finland Challenger Hard (i) Jürgen Zopp 4–6, 7–5, 6–7(6–8)
Win 24–6 Apr 2015 Batman, Turkey Challenger Hard Blaž Kavčič 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–3
Win 25–6 Aug 2015 Vancouver, Canada Challenger Hard John-Patrick Smith 6–4, 7–5
Win 26–6 Nov 2015 Suzhou, China, P.R. Challenger Hard Matija Pecotić 6–1, 1–0 ret.
Loss 26–7 Jan 2016 Happy Valley, Australia Challenger Hard Taylor Fritz 6–7(7–9), 2–6
Win 27–7 Mar 2016 Shenzhen, China, P.R. Challenger Hard Wu Di 6–4, 6–3
Loss 27–8 May 2016 Karshi, Uzbekistan Challenger Hard Marko Tepavac 6–2, 3–6, 6–7(4–7)
Loss 27–9 Sep 2016 Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard Malek Jaziri 6–1, 1–6, 0–6
Win 28–9 Jan 2017 Canberra, Australia Challenger Hard Jan-Lennard Struff 3–6, 4–6, 3–6
Win 29–9 Jun 2017 Nottingham, Great Britain Challenger Grass Thomas Fabbiano 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 29–10 Feb 2019 Bangkok, Thailand Challenger Hard Henri Laaksonen 2–6, 4–6
Loss 29–11 May 2019 Gwangju, Korea, Rep. Challenger Hard Jason Jung 4–6, 2–6
Win 30–11 Jun 2019 Little Rock, United States Challenger Hard Lee Duck-hee 6–1, 4–3 ret.
Loss 30–12 Sep 2019 Cassis, France Challenger Hard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1–6, 0–6

Doubles: 12 (6–6)
Legend (Doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (5–5)
ITF Futures Tour (1–1)
Titles by Surface
Hard (6–5)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2003 Recanati, Italy Challenger Hard Rodolphe Cadart Manuel Jorquera
Frank Moser		 4–6, 5–7
Loss 0–2 Oct 2004 USA F28, Lubbock Futures Hard Lazar Magdinčev Julien Cassaigne
Philip Gubenco		 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 4–6
Win 1–2 Dec 2005 Israel F2, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard Victor Kolik Oleksandr Nedovyesov
Deniss Pavlovs		 6–3, 6–3
Loss 1–3 Mar 2006 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Challenger Hard Jacob Adaktusson Lee Hyung-taik
Cecil Mamiit		 4–6, 2–6
Loss 1–4 May 2006 Atlanta, USA Challenger Clay Harel Levy Hugo Armando
André Sá		 4–6, 4–6
Loss 1–5 May 2007 Lanzarote, Spain Challenger Hard Noam Okun Luke Bourgeois
Rik de Voest		 3–6, 1–6
Win 2–5 Nov 2007 Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei Challenger Hard Stephen Amritraj Rik de Voest
Pierre-Ludovic Duclos		 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Win 3–5 Jul 2012 Binghamton, USA Challenger Hard Harel Srugo Adrien Bossel
Michael McClune		 6–2, 3–6, [10–8]
Win 4–5 Mar 2013 Le Gosier, Gouadeloupe Challenger Hard Jimmy Wang Philipp Marx
Florin Mergea		 6–1, 6–2
Win 5–5 Oct 2015 Ningbo, China, P.R. Challenger Hard Amir Weintraub Nikola Mektić
Franko Škugor		 6–3, 3–6, [10–6]
Loss 5–6 May 2017 Seoul, Korea, Rep. Challenger Hard Thomas Fabbiano Hsieh Cheng-peng
Peng Hsien-yin		 1–5 ret.
Win 6–6 Jan 2019 Burnie, Australia Challenger Hard Lloyd Harris Mirza Bašić
Tomislav Brkić		 6–3, 6–7(3–7), [10–8]

Singles performance timeline

Current as far as the 2020 Australian Open.

Tournament2003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A Q2 2R 2R 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R 3R 2R 1R A Q1 A 9–12
French Open A A 1R Q2 Q1 1R 2R 1R A 1R A 1R 2R 1R A 1R A A 2–9
Wimbledon A A Q1 Q1 Q2 1R 4R 1R 2R 1R Q1 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R Q1 NH 6–10
US Open Q3 A Q1 Q1 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R A 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R A Q1 A 6–10
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–4 6–4 1–4 2–3 0–3 1–2 1–4 3–4 2–4 4–3 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 23–41
Career statistics
Titles–Finals 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–2
Year End Ranking 259 308 170 202 64 112 43 75 83 109 73 99 100 96 67 236 142 233

Doubles performance timeline

Current as far as the 2018 Australian Open.

Tournament20082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open 1R A 2R 1R A A A A A A 1R A A A 1–4
French Open 1R A 2R A 2R A A A 1R A A A A 2–4
Wimbledon A 1R A Q1 1R A A A 2R 1R A A NH 1–4
US Open A 3R A A A A A A 2R 3R A A A 4–3
Win–Loss 0–2 1–2 2–2 0–1 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–3 2–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 8–15

Wins over top 10 players
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score DS Rank
2007
1. Fernando Gonzalez No. 6 Davis Cup, Israel Hard RR 4-6, 7–6(7–5), 5–7, 7–6(9–7), 6–3 No. 105
2008
2. David Ferrer No. 5 Beijing, China Hard 2R 6–3, 6-3 No. 92
2010
3. Andy Roddick No. 7 London, United Kingdom Grass 3R 6–4, 7–6(10–8) No. 63

See also

References
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