Tennis: Pe’er, Sela claim victories in Paris, San Jose
Shahar defeats Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round of the Open GDF Suez tournament.
ByALLON SINAIAfter an excellent January, Shahar Pe’er began February on the right track Tuesday, defeating Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round of the Open GDF Suez tournament in Paris.Pe’er reached the semifinals in Auckland and the finals in Hobart in her first two events of the year before losing to world No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki in the third round of the Australian Open.On Tuesday, Pe’er (22), who is seeded No. 6 in Paris, needed an hour and 17 minutes to brush aside Cornet (65) and she will next face Croatia’s Karolina Sprem (88).In other action, Dudi Sela (45) beat Colombian Santiago Giraldo (100) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) in the first round of the SAP Open in San Jose on Monday and plays the winner of Tuesday night’s match between Phillip Kohlschreiber (29) and Rajeev Ram (79) in the second round.Meanwhile in Paris, Patty Schnyder of Switzerland beat seventh-seeded Virginie Razzano of France 6-3, 7-6 (3).Schnyder pressured Razzano’s serve, forcing 11 break points and converting three of them to edge through in a tight contest at the indoor tournament on hard courts at Stade Pierre de Coubertin.Schnyder next plays Melanie Oudin of the United States, a US Open quarterfinalist last year.There were straight-sets wins Tuesday for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, Andrea Petkovic of Germany, Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, and Oudin.Top-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, last year’s runner-up to Amelie Mauresmo, and No. 2 Flavia Pennetta of Italy have byes into the second round. Dementieva plays Pavlyuchenkova, and Pennetta faces Julie Coin of France or Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.RECOMMENDED STORIESIDF targets Houthi military chief, one killed and at least 14 wounded in northern IsraelJUNE 14, 2025IDF says aircraft operating in heart of Tehran, denies claim Iran shot down fighter jetJUNE 14, 2025Tehran under fire: IDF continues strikes in Iran, focusing on the capital – what was hit?JUNE 14, 2025The road to Tehran has been paved: IDF secures air route for stronger strikes on IranJUNE 14, 2025