Pe’er reaches Budapest quarters

26-year-old Israeli tennis star books meeting with Alexandra Cadantu, ranked No. 80 in world.

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Pe'er 370 (photo credit: re)
Shahar Pe'er 370
(photo credit: re)
Shahar Pe’er advanced to just her second quarterfinal in 18 months on Thursday, defeating Anna Tatishvili 6- 1, 6-1 to reach the last eight of the Budapest Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Israeli, ranked No. 162 in the world, required just 67 minutes to brush aside Tatishvili (101) of Georgia and book a meeting with Alexandra Cadantu (80).
Pe’er lost to Cadantu in her only quarterfinal of the year to date in Katowice, Poland, in April.
Pe’er jumped 17 places in the world rankings earlier this week despite failing to qualify for Wimbledon, missing her first major since the 2009 French Open, which she sat out due to injury.
Pe’er, who failed to receive direct entry to the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the Australian Open in 2005 due to her lowly ranking, missed just her second Grand Slam main draw in the past 34 majors since making her debut at Roland Garros eight years ago.
After officially losing her status as the Israel No. 1 last month, Pe’er, who had been the country’s top-ranked women’s player since overtaking Anna Smashnova in 2006, peaking at No. 11 in January 2011, currently finds herself some 57 places behind Julia Glushko.
Glushko is on the verge of entering the world’s top 100 for the first time after catapulting to a career high of No. 105 this week.