Pe’er starts her year off on the right foot; not Dudi

Tennis player advanced to 2nd round of Brisbane International tennis tournament with straightforward 6-4, 6-2 victory.

By ALLON SINAI
shahar peer_311 (photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
shahar peer_311
(photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Shahar Pe’er got 2011 off to a winning start on Monday, advancing to the second round of the Brisbane International tennis tournament with a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 victory over local wildcard Sophie Ferguson.
“It was my first match of 2011. I played fine but not great,” said Pe’er, ranked No. 13 in the world and seeded No. 2 in Brisbane.
“I think my pre-season training helped me, though. I came from a very hot country – it’s very hot in Israel right now even though it should be winter. Even though we were covered today it was very humid inside. I’m feeling good physically.”
Next up for Pe’er is a second round showdown with Lucie Safarova (33), who thrashed the Israeli 6-3, 6-0 in their last meeting in Paris last year.
Top-seed Samantha Stosur of Australia also advanced to the second round, beating Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-6 (1), 6-1.
Stosur took almost 90 minutes to overcome qualifier Hradecka, coming back from 4-1 down in the first set to set up a second-round meeting with compatriot Jarmila Groth.
Meanwhile, Dudi Sela’s year began on Monday with a loss in Brisbane.
Sela (75) got his match against Michael Berrer (58) off to a flying start and hit 16 aces, but still dropped to a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2 defeat.
Eighth-ranked Andy Roddick, the men’s second seed, served five aces and one double fault, spending 72 minutes on court in his 6-3, 6-2 win over Australian wild card Marinko Matosevic.
Roddick dominated on serve against his 138thranked opponent, winning 77 percent of service points and taking advantage of four of six break points.
He said later he felt under no pressure to defend the Brisbane title he won last year when he beat Radek Stepanek in the final.
“More so the pressure is always to use this tournament to get me ready for Melbourne. It worked last year so I’m going to do it again this year,” Roddick said.

AP contributed to this report.