The first match on the Stadium Court featured Dudi Sela versus Lukas Lacko. Sela lead in the head-to-head meetings 3-1, with all of his wins coming in the form of straight sets.
Dudi Sela has seen great success at the Hall of Fame Championships, reaching the quarterfinals in both 2012 and 2014. The seventh seed advanced to the third round at the Australian Open for the third time in his career and reached the quarterfinals at Nottingham before falling to Andreas Seppi. Just this year, he captured his first ATP doubles title at Istanbul with first-time partner Flavio Cipolla. As the seventh seed, Sela can hope to make a deep run at this year’s Open.
Lukas Lacko returns to Newport for his second Hall of Fame Championships. Though ranked just inside the top 100, he was producing some lackluster results and found himself unable to pass the second round of a tournament. A recent surge over the last month saw him earn a spot in the third round at Wimbledon, where he defeated twenty-third seeded Ivo Karlovic in four sets the round prior, before falling to Marin Cilic. Lacko looks to build upon his successful grass court season by bettering his second round result from last year.
Slow Start for the Players
The first several games passed rather quickly, with both players trading breaks of serve. As the set progressed, errors continued to fly off of the racquet of Lacko, giving Sela the opportunity to capitalize. Tied at 3-3, Sela utilized Lacko’s inconsistency to take control of the points; a few clean winners saw Sela break Lacko yet again to take a 4-3 lead. A definitive hold of serve, coupled with the confidence to attack on the Lacko’s serve, helped Sela to secure the first set, 6-3.
Sela Sails
Despite Lacko’s coach urging him on from the sidelines, Lacko was unable to unearth the level of tennis he needed to stick with Sela. Sela utilized his slice to draw more errors from Lacko, who continued to strike the ball long. The Israeli pinned Lacko to the back of the net, produced stellar passing shots to prevent Lacko from attacking at the net and hit several terrific drop shots. This game plan, coupled with his finesse, ultimately allowed him to break Lacko down and capture the first win of the tournament: 6-3, 6-2.
Final Stats and Thoughts:
Sela won 86 percent of his first serve points and 56 percent of his first return points, in comparison to Lacko's 50 percent and 14 percent respectively. A reduction of errors from Lacko may have made the match more competitive—however, Sela’s confidence and shot-making choices were stellar, and he would have been difficult to defeat regardless.
The seventh seed is scheduled to face defending champion Rajeev Ram in the second round.
"Rajeev is playing good, every match is difficult here. I'm here with my family for the first time, so I didn't get much sleep last night. Hopefully, I will have more energy tomorrow," Sela told the crowd after his win.
Sela appeared relaxed and in good spirits, generously interacting with fans after his win—his wife and two children met him at the gates to congratulate him on his win. Hopefully, his family's support can help him to maintain the positive mindset that he needs to make a deep run at this tournament.