Tennis: Pe'er ousted in 1st round of Tokyo tournament

A week after reaching a new peak in her fledgling career, Shahar Pe'er was brought down to earth on Wednesday morning.

By ALLON SINAI
Peer 298.88 (photo credit: )
Peer 298.88
(photo credit: )
A week after reaching a new peak in her fledgling career, Shahar Pe'er was brought down to earth on Wednesday morning, losing 6-2, 6-3, to Russian Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Pe'er, who climbed to a career-best No. 15 in the WTA rankings on Monday after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was humbled by Kirilenko (30) and crashed out in the first round of a tournament for the first time in almost six months. Pe'er will spend the next three weeks in Israel resting and training before rejoining the tour in North America on February 19 for the $175,000 tournament in Memphis. Kirilenko raced to a 4-1 lead on Wednesday and claimed the set after breaking to love in the eighth game. The Russian's dominance continued in the second set and she grabbed a 5-1 lead before eventually completing the victory by holding serve in the ninth game of the set. Kirilenko also had a hand in ending Pe'er's participation in the doubles. The Russian and partner Vera Dushevina defeated the Israeli and Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1, in the first round Tuesday morning. Ram and Erlich advance in Zagreb Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich progressed to the quarterfinals of the PBZ Zagreb tournament on Wednesday afternoon by defeating Gilles Simon and Janko Tipsrevic 7-6(2), 7-6(3). The Israelis, who are currently No. 13 in the ATP rankings, will face David Skoch and Jordan Kerr for a place in the last four.