Chennai Open: Dudi Sela seals Vinolas' fate

Chennai: Dudi Sela of Israel caused the third upset of the Chennai Open as he got the better of third seed Albert Ramos Vinolas 7-5, 6-4 here on Friday. Later, France’s Benoit Paire beat Briton’s Aljaz Bedene in 6-3, 6-0.

Vinolas, one of the favourites to win the title, dropped serve in the very first game. The Spaniard had a chance to break back in the very next game but the Israel player stood his ground. A few out-of-the-blue single-handed backhand winners were Sela’s trusted allies.

Vinolas was rusty in the first few games. The ball wasn’t finding the middle of his racquet and his movement wasn’t as quick as he would have wanted it to be. Sela, ranked 96th in the world, was well on his way to cause another upset in the tournament. Serving for the set at 5-4, he lost three set points to pave the way for the Spaniard to get even. Vinolas should have built on the momentum but Sela uncorked a few stellar down the line forehand winners to break back. The Israeli held serve without much fuss to take the set with back-to-back forehand winners.
At deuce in the third game of the second set, Sela pounced for the kill. The 32-year-old continued to surprise his opponent with his backhand, which was consistent throughout the match. Sela made no mistake while serving for the match at 5-4.

The Israeli, who will play Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, said: “Medvedev can play amazing tennis. He had a great 2016. I haven’t played him before, so I will have to ask my friends on the circuit about him.”

Paire had no problems whatsoever against Bedene as the latter was lacklustre throughout. In the fourth game, Paire produced an outrageous backhand winner at 40-30 to break the Briton’s serve. Bedene hadn’t yet got his eye in and the shot dazzled him as Paire took the set 6-3.

The Briton’s feet weren’t moving well having played a three-setter against Martin Klizan the previous day. He also called in the doctor during the second set to attend his sore back. In the second set, Paire started off with a triple break to race to a 5-0 lead. And, he secured his second semi-final on the trot here without losing a game.