Tennis: Pe’er storms back into top-20

But over the past six months Pe’er has regained her form.

By ALLON SINAI
Shahar Pe’er returned to the world’s top-20 for the first time since May 2008 on Monday, climbing two places to number 20 in the WTA rankings after reaching the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships last week.
From May 2008 until September 2009, the 22-year-old Israeli reached the quarterfinals of just four of the 32 tournaments she competed in.
But over the past six months Pe’er has regained her form and thanks to a superb start to 2010 she has moved back into the top-20.
Pe’er, who has reached at least the semifinals in three of five tournaments this year, was scheduled to participate in the Monterrey Open in Mexico this week, but has decided instead to take a long overdue break and will return to action in Indian Wells, California in two weeks’ time.
Meanwhile, Dudi Sela plummeted 20 places to No. 64 in the world following a first round loss in Memphis last week, a year after reaching the semifinals of the same tournament.
Sela will play in Acapulco, Mexico this week with the rest of his Davis Cup teammates in preparation for next weekend’s World Group first round encounter in Chile (March 5-7).
Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich will team-up for the first time this year in the doubles event, with Harel Levy losing in the final round of qualifying on Sunday.