Pe’er to drop out of top 50, Sela wins at Indian Wells

Dudi Sela faced world No. 13 Gilles Simon in second round of men’s event in Indian Wells in match which ended after press time.

By ALLON SINAI
Dudi Sela 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Dudi Sela 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Shahar Pe’er is set to drop out of the world’s top-50 for the first time since September 2009 after falling to a 4-6, 6- 3, 7-5 defeat to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko (115) in the first round in Indian Wells on Thursday night.
Pe’er (40) will lose the valuable ranking points she picked by reaching the quarterfinals in Indian Wells last year after dropping a lead of a set and a break against Tsurenko.
Dudi Sela faced world No. 13 Gilles Simon in the second round of the men’s event in Indian Wells in a match which ended after press time on Saturday night.
Sela, who climbed 12 places to No. 63 in the world last week following his progress to the semifinals in Delray Beach, defeated Bosnian Amer Delic 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 in the first round.
Meanwhile, former champion Jelena Jankovic became the first seeded player to tumble out of the WTA tournament in California, losing 6-4, 6-3 to American wild card Jamie Hampton in the second round on Friday.
Seeded 12th, the jet-lagged Serb who had reached the semifinals in her last two tournaments struggled to find a rhythm as she was broken three times in the opening set and twice in the second.
World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka had to work hard to extend her unbeaten record to 18-0 this year, beating Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.