Israeli tennis stars crash out of Roland Garros

Both Peer and Glushko lose first round matches; Erlich-Ram doubles duo are last remaining Israelis in tournament.

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Peer 2013, 370 (photo credit: Reuters)
Shahar Peer 2013, 370
(photo credit: Reuters)
Shahar Pe'er and Julia Glushko were knocked out in the first round of Roland Garros on Monday, leaving Israel without any representatives in the singles tournaments in Paris after just the second day of competition.
Pe'er's 2013 French Open campaign lasted just 57 minutes, with world No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska crushing the Israeli 6-1, 6-1.
Pe'er, who dropped four places to No. 140 in the world earlier Monday, only sneaked into the main draw as she was still ranked high enough (107) at the cut-off date on April 15.
However, she was clearly out of her depth even against an underwhelming Radwanska and is set to plummet around another 40 places when the new rankings are released in two weeks and lose her status as Israel No. 1 for the first time since leapfrogging Anna Smashnova in 2006.
Glushko, who climbed one place to No. 149 on Monday, will overtake Pe'er to become the Israel No. 1 for the first time in her career despite losing 6-2, 7-5 in the first round to Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (71).
The 23-year-old came through three rounds of qualifiers to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam for the second time in her career after making her debut at the US Open last year and will jump around 20 places to what will be a new career high when the new rankings are released.
Glushko lost the final three games of the first set, including two on her serve, to leave herself with a mountain to climb, but she took a 2-0 lead in the second set after breaking in the first game.
However, Torro-Flor got back on level terms after claiming the sixth game and broke once more in the 12th game, clinching the victory on her third match point.
Monday's results leave Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich as the only remaining Israelis at Roland Garros.
Ram and Erlich will team-up for the first time since Ram injured his hip during Israel's 3-2 victory over Japan in the Davis Cup World Group playoffs last September.
The 33-year-old Ram made his return to the ATP Tour in April, first playing with Rohan Bopanna of India and then Andre Sa of Brazil, but will finally return to combine forces with Erlich in Paris, with the two to face No. 14 seeds Daniele Bracciali and Fabio Fognini in the first round.