Tennis: Pe'er sails through at Israeli championships

Tennis Peer sails thro

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Pe'er advanced safely to the quarterfinals of the Israeli championships on Monday, defeating 16-year-old Liat Zimmerman 6-4, 6-1 in Ra'anana. Pe'er, who is the three-time defending champion, will next face 2002 champion Cheli Bargil, who beat Greta Skripnick 6-3, 6-1. "I'm very pleased," said Pe'er. "This is what I had hoped for in my first match since the offseason. I enjoyed myself and I'm here to win the tournament." On Tuesday, the top four seeds in the men's draw, who received a first round bye, will play for the first time in the tournament. Dudi Sela (43 in the world), Harel Levy (119), Noam Okun (258) and Amir Weintraub (576) will all be searching for a place in the quarterfinals. The doubles tournament also got underway on Monday. Andy Ram will play with coach Noam Behr after Yoni Erlich pulled out with an injury. Ram and Behr claimed the title last year when Erlich also missed out through injury.