Wimbledon: Pe'er's run ends with doubles exit

Pe'er and her Belarusian partner Victoria Azarenka lost 5-7, 6-7 (4) to No. 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in a rain interrupted match.

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Peer 224.88 ap (photo credit: AP [file])
Shahar Peer 224.88 ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
Shahar Pe'er's Wimbledon came to an end on Wednesday with a loss in the quarterfinals of the women's doubles tournament. Pe'er and her Belarusian partner Victoria Azarenka lost 5-7, 6-7 (4) to No. 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in a rain interrupted match. Pe'er and Azarenka, who were seeded No. 6, led 3-1 in the first set before rain stopped play for the first time. The duo, however, was broken in the eighth game after play resumed and dropped their serve once more in the 12th game to lose the first set. Both teams held serve in the first 12 games of the second set, but the Israeli/Belarusian duo was sent packing after losing six of the last seven points of the match. Despite the loss, Pe'er's excellent doubles results in recent months have given Tzipi Obziler a place on the Israeli delegation to the Beijing Olympic Games. Also Wednesday, the International Tennis Federation notified the Israeli Tennis Association that because of Pe'er's high doubles tanking (No. 16 in the world) and due to Israel's Fed Cup team's successes, Obziler can team-up with Pe'er in the doubles tournament in China. "This is one of the highlights of my career," said the 35-year-old Obziler, who was bitterly disappointed at not being able to reach the Olympics singles tournament. "I'm very excited to have the opportunity to represent Israel and I hope Shahar and I can do well in the tournament."