Shahar Pe'er reached the quarterfinals of the $1,340,000 Rogers Cup tournament in Montreal on Thursday night after defeating good friend and doubles partner Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Pe'er will now play Anna Chakvetadze in the quarterfinals after the 19-year-old Russian defeated Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-1, 6-4.
Pe'er broke Bartoli in the first game of the match but immediately lost her lead after the Frenchwoman broke back in the next game.
The Israeli continued to pay the price for her poor serving and did not hold on to her serve once during the first set. Bartoli took advantage of her doubles partner poor serving and won the first set 6-2.
Pe'er began to work out her serving problems at the beginning of the second set and finally held on to her serve. The Israeli opened a 5-2 lead and seemed to be cruising to a second set victory.
Bartoli had no intention of letting her partner run away with the second set and won three games on the trot to tie the set at 5-5. Pe'er immediately fought back and won the next two games and the set 7-5.
The third set was a tense affair with Pe'er eventually winning it 6-4.
Pe'er got the chance to play Bartoli in the last 16 after defeating world number 11 Anastasia Myskina of Russia 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 late on Wednesday.
It was the second time Myskina came up short against Pe'er after the latter had defeated her in the finals at Istanbul earlier this year.
Both players were nervous at the start of the match and the tight first set went into a tiebreaker.
The Russian grabbed an early 4-1 lead in the breaker but Pe'er fought back and won it 8-6 on her third set point.
Later on Thursday, Pe'er and Bartoli put their singles match behind them and played together in the second round of the doubles tournament.
The Israeli/French duo played Ukrainian sisters Alona and Kateyna Bondarenko.
Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich are also in action in North America this week, in the $2,450,000 Cincinnati tournament.
The Israelis booked their spot in the quarterfinals late on Wednesday after defeating Mahesh Bhupathi of India and American partner Justin Gimelstob 7-6, 5-7, 10-4. Ram and Erlich, who are ranked sixth in the tournament, faced Russian pair Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny late on Thursday.
The Russians shocked number four seeds Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett in the second round 1-6, 7-6, 10-7.
Murray breaks Federer's winning streak
Roger Federer's 55-match winning streak in North America came to a stunning end Wednesday when the world's top player was upset by Britain's Andy Murray in the second round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
Murray kept his composure while Federer lost his during his earliest exit from a tournament in two years.
When Federer's return sailed long to finish off the 7-5, 6-4 win, Murray calmly removed the sweatband from his head and went to the net to shake Federer's hand.
"I don't know what to say," Murray said. "I didn't know how to react at the end because I definitely was not planning on winning the match."
