By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Pe'er extended her winning streak to six matches on Wednesday, defeating Maret Ani of Estonia 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.
The 22-year-old Israeli climbed 11 places to No. 46 in the world earlier this week after claiming the Guangzhou Open on Sunday without losing a set. The title in China was the fourth in Pe'er's career and first in more than three years, with her first three WTA Tour titles coming at Pattaya City, Prague and Istanbul in 2006.
Next up for Pe'er is German Kathrin Woerle (129), who she defeated in the first round in China last week.
Also in Tashkent, top-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan beat Ekaterina Ivanova of Russia 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.
Fifth-seeded Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland and Monica Niculescu of Romania also advanced to the quarterfinals. Voegele defeated 15-year-old Uzbek wild-card Nigina Abduraimova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 and Niculescu broke Evgeniya Rodina of Russia five times to win 6-1, 6-4.
Eighth-seeded Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan lost to Darya Kustova of Belarus 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9). Kustova reached the quarterfinals of a WTA Tour event for the second time this season.
AP contributed to this report
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