Despite early Aussie exit, Pe’er hits career-high ranking

The tennis player climbs to new career-high of 11 in world rankings; next Pe'er set to overtake 11th-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

By ALLON SINAI
Peer 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
Peer 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
One place and 115 ranking points are all that separate Shaher Pe’er from breaking into the top-10 of the world rankings.
Despite failing to progress past the third round of the Australian Open for a fourth straight year, Pe’er climbed to a new career-high of number 11 on Monday, benefiting from Serena Williams’s dramatic drop and the fact that the retired Elena Dementieva was finally removed from the WTA rankings.
The next player Pe’er will be looking to overtake is 10th-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
The two will face off in the Fed Cup in Eilat on Thursday in Pool B of Europe/Africa Zone Group I.
Israel will open its group games against Luxembourg on Wednesday and after playing Poland, will face Bulgaria on Friday.
The national team will need to finish the pool in first place in order to advance to a tie against one of the other three pool winners for a place in April’s World Group II playoffs.
“We have gotten used to the courts and I hope there will be plenty of fans that will help us win,” Pe’er said after practicing in Eilat.
Israel’s No. 2 Julia Glushko will also enter the matches in Eilat ranked at a career-high, jumping 28 places to No. 205 in the world on Monday.
Dudi Sela, who has yet to win a match this year, climbed two places to No. 90 in the world.
Meanwhile, for the first time, the top 10 players in the women’s tennis rankings represent 10 different countries.
The WTA said in a statement that 11 different nations are represented among the top 11 spots, including Israel, and 30 different countries among the top 60.
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki remained No. 1, followed by Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium, Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, Italy’s Francesca Schiavone and Australia’s Sam Stosur.
The next five: Venus Williams of the United States, China’s Li Na, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Poland’s Radwanska.
Former No. 1 Serena Williams, who has been sidelined with a foot injury since winning Wimbledon for the fourth time last year, dropped from No. 4 to No. 12.
AP contributed to this report.