Tennis: Pe'er qualifies for Indian Wells quarterfinals

Beats world No. 11 Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 7-6; earlier, Pe'er and 18-year-old partner Vania King advance in doubles.

By ALLON SINAI
Peer 298.88 (photo credit: )
Peer 298.88
(photo credit: )
Israeli number one Shahar Pe'er qualified for the quarterfinals of the prestigious Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday morning. Pe'er beat world No. 11 and eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze, from Russia, 6-4 7-6. On Monday, Pe'er and 18-year-old partner Vania King advanced to the quarterfinals of the doubles, thrashing Emma Laine of Finland and Czech Vladimira Uhlirova 6-0, 6-1, in 54 minutes. The Israeli/American duo, which is ranked eighth in the tournament, will face a much tougher challenge in the last eight where they play the world's best doubles team of Australian Samantha Stosur and American Lisa Raymond. Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich ensured that Israel's representatives had a perfect day on Monday when they defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-7 (5), 7-5, 10-5. The Israelis, who are seeded sixth in the tournament, will face the winners of Tuesday's match between Czechs Tomas Berdych and Ivan Ljubicic and Spanish duo Nicolas Almagro and Fernando Verdasco. After splitting the first 12 games of the first-round match, the first set had to be decided on a tiebreak, which Djokovic and Soderling took 7-5. The first 11 games of the second set went according to serve. But in the 12th game Ram and Erlich got a vital break and claimed the set. At 1-1 the winner of the first-round clash had to be determined in a match tiebreaker. Ram and Erlich recorded the first mini-break in the sixth point and would maintain a lead throughout to win 10-7. Pe'er's fourth-round match in the singles tournament against world No. 11 and eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze was played after press time Tuesday night. Smashnova announces her retirement Former Israel No. 1 Anna Smashnova announced Tuesday that 2007 will be her last year on the WTA tour. The 30-year-old, who was ranked No. 15 in the world in August 2003, won 12 WTA titles during her career and beat five top-10 players since turning professional in 1991. "I will play a couple more tournaments and will then decide if I'll retire after Wimbledon or after the US Open," Smashnova said on Tuesday. "I've had a long career and have been playing tennis since the age of six. My career had to end sometime and I'm happy with my decision."