ATP US Open 2011 Preview: Roger Federer vs. Dudi Sela

Third-seed Roger Federer made a fine start to his 2011 US Open campaign by winning his first-round encounter comprehensively. In the second-round, Federer will square off against Israeli tennis star Dudi Sela, who is ranked 93 in the world.

Five-time US Open champion Roger Federer will take on World No. 93 Dudi Sela of Israel in his second-round encounter, here at the Flushing Meadows. Third-seeded Roger Federer made a fine start to his US Open campaign on Monday, as he earned a comprehensive straight sets victory over World No. 56 Santiago Giraldo of Colombia with a 6-4 6-3 6-2 scoreline to secure his berth in the second-round of the 2011 US Open. His opponent Sela pulled off a stunning comeback in his first-round match, beating Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in five sets with a 4-6 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-0 scoreline to set up this second-round clash against Federer.

Sixteen Grand Slam titles winner, Roger Federer has a very good 42-11 win loss record this year, but the one usual fact is that he has only a single title to his name – so far in the new season. Federer is seeded 3rd at the US Open this year, his lowest seed since he was seeded thirteenth in 2002. The Swiss has not gone a season without winning a Grand Slam title since 2002 – hence this is his last opportunity this season to maintain an impeccable record for another year. This year, Federer lost to in-form Novak Djokovic three times, twice in semis at Aussie Open and Indian Wells and between that in final at Dubai. Though, Federer wounded Djokovic badly by snapping his 42 matches winning streak at the Roland Garros semis, the World No. 3 lost in the final to King of Clay – Rafael Nadal. Besides these two, the Swiss ace also lost to some other low-ranked contenders including Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon and recently at Cincinnati Masters to Tomas Berdych. Obviously, the Swiss is not looking in his typical touch, but he can regain that devastating form by making further progress at Flushing Meadows.

Federer’s opponent Dudi Sela is currently Israel’s top men’s singles player. In the past the Israeli has beaten big players including David Ferrer and Andy Roddick. But, this year, he does not have a good record with a 5-10. Sela is still chasing his maiden title on tour. This will be a second-meeting between these two and last time they met way back in 2005 in the opening round at Roland-Garros, where Federer subdued the Israeli in straight sets. Sela is coming off from a five-set victory in his opening match, thus he must be feeling a bit tired. Besides all the energy, Sela also needs a lot of luck to stop Federer from reaching the third-round of the US Open.

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