Israel drops Russia 2-0 in Davis Cup
Published: 10 July, 2009, 21:06
Israel's Dudi Sela celebrates after beating Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in their Davis Cup quarter-final tennis match (AFP Photo)
TAGS: Sport, Tennis, Davis Cup
The first two singles matches of Russia’s Davis Cup quarterfinal saw host Israel take a 2-0 lead in the matchup, with Igor Andreev losing to Harel Levy and Mikhail Youzhny dropping to Dudi Sela, both in four sets.
In the first match of the day, Levy pulled off a 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 upset victory over Andreev. It was a surprise defeat for Andreev, who at 24th in the world is ranked nearly 200 places higher than Levy.
After the two-hour-long upset Russia was looking to level things up, but Youzhny proved no match for Sela, who is ranked just outside the world’s top 30. The Israeli won in four sets to give Israel a commanding 2-0 lead.
Russia, the top-ranked country in the Davis Cup standings, will now have to make an impressive comeback in order to avoid losing to eighth-ranked Israel in the best-of-five matchup.
Safin to miss Davis Cup singles in Tel AvivMarat Safin will not play in Friday’s men’s singles matches as Team Russia begins its Davis Cup quarterfinal against Israel. |
High hopes for young Wimbledon champWimbledon finished last week with seemingly limited success for Russia, but it did produce a junior champion for the country, who now hopes to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Marat Safin. |











