Israel’s Dudi Sela defeats Belgium’s Xavier Malisse in three sets at Farmers Classic

A tennis net is a fickle thing. It can be a player’s best friend, but it can also be their undoing, as Xavier Malisse found out the hard way on Monday night.

Israeli Dudi Sela defeated the Belgian Malisse 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the first three-set match in the main draw of the 2010 Farmers Classic on Monday night at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Sela will face fourth-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the second round.

Malisse was repeatedly at odds with the net, especially in the final game of the match. Three of the four points won by Sela in the deciding game were sent straight into the net by Malisse, including match point, and all four were unforced errors.

“The first set he did not start so well,” said Sela. “I started very solid. The second set he played much better and even in the third set he was a break up, but I just kept fighting for every point. I didn’t play my best tennis; I think also he didn’t.”

Sela dominated the first set, breaking Malisse three times out of a possible four and getting in his head in the process. Malisse became so frustrated after going down 2-0 that he broke his racket on his own foot, drawing a warning from the chair umpire.

The second set was a tighter affair, and Malisse triumphed thanks his strong serve and renewed focus. He aced Sela several times in the set and pulled away after going up a break at 4-3.

Sela admitted that the unexpectedly cold conditions hindered his play in the second set as he aggravated a preexisting wrist injury.

“I thought that in L.A. it’s very warm, and everybody’s with coats,” he said. “The conditions were very heavy, so after the first set my racket was a little too tight and my arm got very slow and very heavy.”

Malisse’s serving was consistently stronger than Sela’s, regularly hovering around 120 miles per hour while Sela’s rarely topped 105, but Sela’s stronger overall court coverage and his deadly one-handed backhand proved to be too much for Malisse.

Sela said that he drew inspiration from a contingent of Israeli supporters sitting in the northwest corner of the LATC with “DUDI!” painted on their chests, waving four Israeli flags and continuously chanting words of support, occasionally rubbing the chair umpire the wrong way.

“I have these people here from Israel behind me, so it’s already a good day for me,” Sela said.

Fish off the menu

American Mardy Fish, No. 35 in the world, has withdrawn from the singles competition of the Farmers Classic. The decision comes on the heels of Fish winning the Atlanta Tennis Championships, held last week in Johns Creek, Ga.

On Sunday, Fish came from behind to defeat fellow American John Isner, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6-4) to take the title, one day after defeating top-ranked American Andy Roddick 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the semis.

Fish was ranked eighth in the Farmers Classic bracket and slated to face Germany’s Benjamin Becker. A lucky loser will take over the vacant spot: the highest-ranked player to lose in qualifying who signs in before Tuesday morning’s deadline.

Monday recap

Singles, first round:

(5) Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) def. Lukas Lacko (Slovakia), 7-5, 7-5.

(6) Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) def. Santiago Giraldo (Colombia), 6-1, 6-0.

Rainer Schüttler (Germany) def. (7) Horacio Zeballos (Argentina), 6-3, 3-0 (retired).

Doubles, first round:

Arnaud Clement (France) / Jonathan Erlich (Israel) def. Travis Parrott (USA) / Dusan Vemic (Serbia) 7-6(8), 6-2