Pe'er's Jewish-Muslim partnership with Mirza proves successful

The Israeli/Indian duo, seeded 16th in the event, were in a commanding lead in the second round match when rain suspended play.

By ALLON SINAI
peer in wimbledon 298.88 (photo credit: AP)
peer in wimbledon 298.88
(photo credit: AP)
The Jewish/Muslim pairing of Shahar Pe'er and Sania Mirza needed just three minutes on Tuesday afternoon to wrap up a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Agnes Szava and Vladimira Uhlirova in the second round of the doubles tournament. The Israeli/Indian duo, seeded 16th in the event, were in a commanding lead in the second round match when rain suspended play on Monday night and easily won two quick games on Tuesday to clinch a spot in the third round. Pe'er and Mirza have attracted plenty of attention at the All England Club in recent days after deciding to renew their doubles partnership - which was initially cut short in 2005 when it was met with anger by religious Muslim groups. "We're just here to play tennis and we're here to perform and to do our best," said Mirza. "We've grown up together. We're great friends. So we said, why not?" Insisting the attention has not affected the duo, Mirza added: "Shahar and I are playing just like the way I played with anyone else the last six weeks. It doesn't make any statement. We've done well in the past. "We really don't care whether she's from Israel or I'm from Pakistan. At the end of the day it matters whether we win a match or not." Up next for Pe'er and Mirza is the daunting task of trying to overcome the world's best women's doubles team of Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. Also on Tuesday, French Open champions Andy Ram and Nathalie Dechy defeated Lukasz Kubot and Sybille Bammer 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the third round of the mixed doubles tournament.