Tennis: Pe'er back on form with second Toronto win

Tennis player defeats Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (4), 6-4.

By ALLON SINAI, AP
peer 248.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
peer 248.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Shahar Pe'er recorded her most impressive victory since March on Wednesday, defeating Francesca Schiavone (27 in the world) 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. The 21-year-old Israeli, who dropped to number 68 in the world on Monday, hadn't won two straight matches in over a month and in the last 16 will face world number 5 Elena Dementieva, who has beaten Pe'er in five of their previous six meetings. Meanwhile, top-ranked Dinara Safina fell 3-6, 6-2, 64 to Aravane Rezai of France. Safina's loss came a day after world No. 3 Venus Williams was upset by Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko. Safina opened strong, but fell apart in the second set with six double faults and winning fewer than half of her points on serve. The 23-year-old Russian was broken three straight times in the third and deciding set, slamming her racket to the ground after the final point. Eighth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki also was eliminated, going down to Zheng Jie of China 7-5, 6-3. Also Wednesday, Roger Federer held serve throughout a 6-3, 7-5 win over Jose Acasuso in the second round of the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters on Wednesday, facing only one break point all match.