Shahar Pe'er looks to make history at Wimbledon

She may become the first Israeli ever to reach the quarterfinals.

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Peer 88 (photo credit: AP)
Shahar Peer 88
(photo credit: AP)
Shahar Pe'er will be looking to become the first Israeli ever to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon on Monday when she faces world No. 5 Elena Dementieva in the fourth round. Pe'er, who is already the only Israeli to progress to the last eight of a Grand Slam more than once in a career, has experienced a dramatic turnaround in form in the last week. The 21-year-old entered Wimbledon on a four match losing streak and had only won two of her previous 10 matches. Playing at the All England Club, however, has worked magic for Pe'er, who advanced to the fourth round with a dramatic 7-5, 6-7 (4), 8-6 victory over world No. 9 Dinara Safina on Saturday. Pe'er will play in the second match on Court 11, the same court she beat Safina on. She has faced Dementieva four times in her career and has lost each of the last three encounters. The players last met at the third round of this year's Australian Open, with the Russian thrashing Pe'er 6-2, 6-0. The Israeli can, however, gather some confidence from the fact that Dementieva has only reached the last eight at Wimbledon once in her career and that grass is her least favorite surface. "My style of play is similar to Dementieva's," Pe'er said. "I've played against her several times in the past and we know each other quite well. She's an excellent tennis player and I'm sure that it will once more be tough to play against her." Pe'er and Victoria Azarenka will also complete their third round doubles match on Monday. The Israeli/Belarusian duo won the first set of their match against Dinara Safina and Agnes Szavay 7-5 on Saturday before bad light suspended play. Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich, who are seeded No. 3, will also be in action on Monday, playing Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in the third round.