Dudi, the giant slayer
Dudi Sela (ranked no. 46 in the world) beat Tommy Robredo of Spain (15) in the 3rd round of the Wimbledon tennis championship, the first time that an Israeli enters the fourth round of the last 16 in twenty years (since Amos Mansdorf):
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And it came to pass that the Philistine hordes gathered unto the mountain of the Lord by the Valley of Elah. And from their midst came forth the giant Goliath and he taunted the Israelites and shouted at them, "is there no man from among your ranks who will come forth and fight me. I am Goliath, champion of the Philistines" And from the Israelite host no man stirred, all were afraid. But, Dudi, small yet strong, pushed his way through the ranks and came unto the valley before the giant. And he said, "I will answer your challenge, but the Lord has decreed that we shall fight by civilized means. Let there be a net stretched across the valley here and let lines be drawn to delineate the court, and then let us struggle with each other." And they came forth, each man bearing his racket and stood one before the other. Then each unleashed a barrage of serves and shots, one to the other. But those of the giant were slow and cumbersome, while those of Dudi were fast and furious, and one of his yellow balls hit the giant squarely on the forehead and he collapsed and was slain. And Dudi triumphed and all Israel rejoiced. And so that place was declared sacred to the memory of God and the place was called Wimbledon, and so it is until this day. Amen.
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In the fourth round Sela will play the Serbian Novak Djockovic (4), a very formidable task. Also, a relatively unknown American Jewish player, Jesse Levine (ranked 133), who looks like Woody Allen in whites, beat Marat Safin (14) of Russia in an unexpected upset in the second round, but in the third round he lost to Wawrinka (19) of Switzerland.
Nevertheless, all eyes are on Roger Federer (2), who beat the German Kohlschreiber (27) in a stirring match, and whose form is expected to take him into his sixth final and perhaps earn him his 15th Grand Slam win, that would exceed the record of Pete Sampras who won 14 in his career. Also, the great British hope Andy Murray (3) played superlative tennis in defeating Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and then Troicka of Serbia and people hope that he will make it to the final, that may (in the absence of no. 1 Rafael Nadal) be a clash between Murray and Federer. In the women's draw, everyone expects the final to once again be between the two Williams sisters. As the numbers of players diminish, the level of the tennis played improves and the excitement grows.
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And it came to pass that the Philistine hordes gathered unto the mountain of the Lord by the Valley of Elah. And from their midst came forth the giant Goliath and he taunted the Israelites and shouted at them, "is there no man from among your ranks who will come forth and fight me. I am Goliath, champion of the Philistines" And from the Israelite host no man stirred, all were afraid. But, Dudi, small yet strong, pushed his way through the ranks and came unto the valley before the giant. And he said, "I will answer your challenge, but the Lord has decreed that we shall fight by civilized means. Let there be a net stretched across the valley here and let lines be drawn to delineate the court, and then let us struggle with each other." And they came forth, each man bearing his racket and stood one before the other. Then each unleashed a barrage of serves and shots, one to the other. But those of the giant were slow and cumbersome, while those of Dudi were fast and furious, and one of his yellow balls hit the giant squarely on the forehead and he collapsed and was slain. And Dudi triumphed and all Israel rejoiced. And so that place was declared sacred to the memory of God and the place was called Wimbledon, and so it is until this day. Amen.
*************
In the fourth round Sela will play the Serbian Novak Djockovic (4), a very formidable task. Also, a relatively unknown American Jewish player, Jesse Levine (ranked 133), who looks like Woody Allen in whites, beat Marat Safin (14) of Russia in an unexpected upset in the second round, but in the third round he lost to Wawrinka (19) of Switzerland.
Nevertheless, all eyes are on Roger Federer (2), who beat the German Kohlschreiber (27) in a stirring match, and whose form is expected to take him into his sixth final and perhaps earn him his 15th Grand Slam win, that would exceed the record of Pete Sampras who won 14 in his career. Also, the great British hope Andy Murray (3) played superlative tennis in defeating Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and then Troicka of Serbia and people hope that he will make it to the final, that may (in the absence of no. 1 Rafael Nadal) be a clash between Murray and Federer. In the women's draw, everyone expects the final to once again be between the two Williams sisters. As the numbers of players diminish, the level of the tennis played improves and the excitement grows.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:07 AM
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