Weintraub ousted at SW19, Pe’er and Glushko advance

Amir Weintraub’s dream of reaching the Wimbledon main draw for the first time in his career will have to wait at least one more year.

By ALLON SINAI
Amir Weintraub (photo credit: Reuters)
Amir Weintraub
(photo credit: Reuters)
Amir Weintraub’s dream of reaching the Wimbledon main draw for the first time in his career will have to wait at least one more year before it is realized after he suffered a 7-6 (5), 6-3 defeat to Matt Reid on Tuesday in the second round of the qualifying tournament at the All England Club.
Weintraub, who is ranked at No. 224 in the world and advanced to the second round of the Australian Open in his first appearance in a major main draw earlier this year, struggled against Reid (213) of Australia and was sent packing one day after Dudi Sela was surprisingly ousted in the first round.
Israel still has two representatives in the women’s qualifiers at Wimbledon, with both Julia Glushko (129) and Shahar Pe’er (168) advancing to the second round on Tuesday.
Glushko defeated Raluca Olaru (227) 6-3, 6-4 and will face Japan’s Yurika Sema (188) in the second round on Wednesday.
Pe’er, who failed to receive direct entry to the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the Australian Open in 2005, thrashed Melanie South 6-2, 6-0 (589) and will come up against American Maria Sanchez (114) on Wednesday.
Pe’er requires two more wins to ensure she doesn’t miss the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for just the second time in 34 majors. The Israeli made her Grand Slam main draw debut at Roland Garros in 2005 and has since only missed the 2009 French Open through injury.
After seven years, Pe’er officially lost her status as the Israel No. 1 last week, being leapfrogged in the rankings by Glushko.