Tennis: Pe'er, Azarenka advance but Sela and Levy fall in doubles

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Pe'er will face her first stern test at this year's Australian Open on Friday morning when she plays world No. 11 Elena Dementieva in the third round of the tournament in Melbourne. Pe'er, ranked 17th, has lost her last two meetings against the 26-year-old Russian, but defeated Dementieva when the players first met in the third round of the French Open in 2006. On Thursday, the 20-year-old Israeli advanced to the second round of the doubles tournament. Pe'er and Victoria Azarenka, who are seeded 12th in the event, defeated Sybille Bammer and Tamira Paszek 6-1, 6-3 in the first round. Also Thursday, Dudi Sela and Harel Levy were knocked out in the first round of the men's doubles tournament, losing 6-3, 7-5 to Yves Allegro and Kristof Vliegen. On Friday, Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich, who are seeded eighth in the tournament, play Americans Scott Lipsky and David Martin in the second round. Ram and Erlich will also be in action in the mixed doubles tournament on Friday. Ram and Nathalie Dechy, who are seeded eighth, face Sophie Ferguson and Adam Feeney. Erlich and Chia-Jung Chuang, who are seeded sixth, play Jarmila Gajdosova and Samuel Groth.