Pe’er wins, Sela falls

Dudi Sela stumbled on the clay once more, falling in the first round in Nice.

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Pe'er 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Shahar Pe'er 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Shahar Pe’er opened her final tournament before the Roland Garros with a win in Strasbourg on Tuesday, while Dudi Sela stumbled on the clay once more, falling in the first round in Nice.
Pe’er, ranked No. 53 in the world, beat Aleksandra Wozniack (57), 7-5, 6-0, breaking the Canadian seven times in the 80- minute encounter.
Pe’er’s next goal will be to finally progress past a second-round after failing to do so in her past eight tournaments, especially with the French Open around the corner, starting this coming Sunday.
Dudi Sela (94) has little to cheer about entering the year’s second Grand Slam event after losing 7- 5, 6-1 to Grigor Dimitrov (95) in the first round in Nice.
Sela’s decision to play a full European clay-court season has so far backfired, with the Israeli winning just two of six matches on the red surface, plummeting 23 places in the ATP rankings on Monday after losing the points he picked up last year with his success on the Challenger circuit.
As a result, Sela looks set to miss out on a place in the London Olympics.