Early Life
Sela's father Michael, a bus driver, and mother Anca, a nurse, immigrated to Israel from Romania. His family name was originally Sălăjean, but his father changed it so that it would be more easily pronounced in Israel. He grew up in Kiryat Shmona, near the Israel-Lebanon border.
At the age of two, Dudi, diminutive of David, had his hands on his first racket, and at the age of seven he began to play tennis. His tennis idols were his brother Ofer, who was a top 200 player, and the Israeli Amos Mansdorf. Sela spent hours as a junior studying tapes of Mansdorf, hoping to one day match his achievements.
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