Career-high ranking comes after Israeli tennis star claims the Seoul Challenger tournament.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFDudi Sela 298.88(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Dudi Sela will be ranked among the world's top 80 for the first time in his career on Monday, after claiming the Seoul Challenger tournament on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Israeli, who was ranked No. 92 in the world ahead of the $125,000 event in South Korea, defeated Konstantinos Economidis 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday and will jump approximately 20 places when the new ATP rankings are released Monday.
"I didn't play my best tennis in the final, but I'm glad I managed to claim the victory nevertheless. I was much better than my opponent in the crucial points," said Sela, who was ranked as low as No. 196 just four months ago.
"My confidence has been very high since the Davis Cup tie against Chile and I hope I can maintain this form and continue to rise up the rankings," he said.
Sela, who led Israel to the Davis Cup World Group last month with victories over Chila's Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez, will remain in South Korea in the coming days to play in a Challenger tournament in Busan.
He will hope to continue his outstanding form from Seoul, where he won all five of his matches in straight sets.
Sela, who won the Challenger tournament at Togliatti, Russia, earlier this year, broke in the ninth game of the first set of Sunday's final and wrapped up the set by holding serve in the subsequent game.
Economidis (176) dropped his serve in the seventh and ninth games of the second set and Sela, who was broken in the eighth game, eventually held serve to complete the victory.
