Tennis: Pe’er pounds into another quarterfinal

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Pe’er advanced to her third quarterfinal in four tournaments this year on Thursday, recording a straightforward 6-4, 6-3 victory over Karolina Sprem in the second round of the Open GDF Suez tournament in Paris.
The 22-year-old Israeli, ranked No. 22 in the world, played smart and patient tennis to get the better of Sprem (88), breaking serve once in each set to wrap up the victory in one hour and 10 minutes.
“It wasn’t really an easy victory,” Pe’er said. “Some games were very close and I’m very happy I wasn’t broken. I played well in the important points and I’m happy I won.”
Next up for Pe’er, who has already reached the semifinals in Auckland and finals in Hobart this year, is a meeting with Lucie Safarova (46), who defeated Francesca Schiavone (18) 7-5, 6-2.
Elena Dementieva, the top seed in Paris, advanced to the last eight on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Dudi Sela (45) was sent packing in the second round of the SAP Open in San Jose in humbling fashion on Wednesday, losing 6-2, 6-0 to Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber (29).
Top-seeded Andy Roddick beat American qualifier Ryler DeHeart 6-1, 7-6 (1) in the first round on Wednesday.
Roddick was playing his first match since the Australian Open, when he was hindered by a sore right shoulder in a five-set loss to Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals. He has also been bothered by a knee injury that almost forced him to miss this tournament.
Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco also progressed to the second round, overcoming Taiwan’s Yen-hsun Lu 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in a tighter than expected match.
AP contributed to this report