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7/11/09 4:48 AM | Ricky Dimon
Harel Levy opens the Russia vs. Israel Davis Cup tie with a huge upset of Igor Andreev. Dudi Sela then takes care of Mikhail Youzhny to put the visiting Russians in a quick 2-0 hole.
Harel Levy d. Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
A memorable day for the Israeli Davis Cup team saw underdog Harel Levy stun Igor Andreev in four sets on Friday afternoon, giving host Israel a 1-0 lead over Russian in this quarterfinal tie. If the Levy-Andreev match is any indication, you can throw numbers and common sense out the window when it comes to predicting the winner over a Davis Cup rubber. After all, Levy had not won a match at the ATP level this season heading into this encounter and he is ranked 210th in the world. Andreev, by contrast, has been a recent staple in the Top 30 of the world rankings.
None of that mattered when Levy and Andreev squared off in Tel Aviv. Levy came out on fire, sprinting to a two-set lead. After a minor hiccup in the third, Levy bounced back and took care of business with a 6-2 victory in set four. The victor struggled with his unforced error count (53), but he was able to capitalize on his opponent spraying even more errors (70). Levy also did a much better job than Andreev of handling his first-serve points, winning 81 percent of them on his way to triumph.
Dudi Sela d. Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5
Sela gave Israel a commanding 2-0 lead over Russia with a crucial four-set win over Mikhail Youzhny in the second singles rubber. With a 1-0 lead for his country in hand, Sela came out flat before righting the ship. He served at a dismal 42 percent in set one and sprayed 14 unforced errors. The Israeli was unable to capitalized on two break-point opportunities, so one break to Youzhny was enough for the Russian to seize an early advantage.
Suddenly, however, Sela completely turned things around as Youzhny collapsed. Youzhny committed 33 errors combined in sets two and three while Sela struck a mere four errors in a 6-0 third frame of play. The world No. 69 continued to spray errors in the fourth, but one break for each man took things to 5-5. Sela's final break of the afternoon gave him a 6-5 lead, at which point he served out the proceedings. Both men finished with 29 winners, but Sela recorded 44 errors to Youzhny's dreadful 64.
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