Israeli Tennis Player Scores Shocking Win at Wimbledon

The Fellowship | July 6, 2017

Day Two: The Championships - Wimbledon 2017 — LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 04: Dudi Sela of Israel plays a forehand during the Gentlemen's Singles first round match against Marcel Granollers of Spain on day two of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 4, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Israel is known – and loved – for excelling at many things, but tennis is not normally considered one of them. Until today, that is. The Times of Israel’s Justin Cohen reports that Israel’s men’s singles champ, Dudi Sela, just mowed down the grassy courts of Wimbledon with a come-from-behind victory:

Standing at just five feet and seven inches, Sela, 32, is ranked 90th in the world. After Thursday’s win, Sela was among the last 32 players left in the tournament.

He won Thursday’s second round 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 and 6-3.

Sela pumped his fists in the air after defeating the six-foot-ten Isner, ranked 21st in the world.

Moments after coming off the court, Sela said he was “very happy” at the win.

“I think I played a solid match but was maybe lucky with some of the points. I played well on my service games but didn’t play so well on his. I stayed around [the] same level from the first point.”

He said the Israeli-like temperatures approaching 30 degrees Celsius (86° Fahrenheit) benefited him as his opponent tired.

“Sometimes when the sun is on your head like for him, and you hear all these ‘kadimah’s [‘onward’s], he starts feeling even more tired. It helps me and [I] like it…”