Pe'er qualifies for last 16 of Australian Open

Beats France's Tatiana Golovin 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 to set up clash with Svetlana Kuznetsova; Ram and Erlich storm through in doubles.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
peer 298.88 (photo credit: AP)
peer 298.88
(photo credit: AP)
Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe'er qualified for the last 16 of the Australian Open on Friday morning after a dramatic victory over France's Tatiana Golovin. Pe'er was seemingly down-and-out after losing the first set 6-3 and being two match points down in the second. However, the 17th seed held her nerves and eventually won the set 7-5. Rain interrupted a nail-biting third and deciding set before Pe'er came back from a break down to win 7-5 and set up a mouth-watering clash with Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova defeated fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, 6-1, 6-4. Later Friday, Israeli doubles duo Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich also qualified for the last 16, after a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Stephan Haas (Australia) and James Oakland (UK).