Tennis: Shahar Pe'er fails again against Kuznetsova

Kuznetsova had few problems defeating the Pe'er 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

By ALLON SINAI, AP
peer 88 (photo credit: )
peer 88
(photo credit: )
World No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova got the better of Shahar Pe'er on Monday, the third straight time the Israeli has lost to the Russian star. Kuznetsova had few problems defeating the Pe'er 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Pe'er reached the semifinals in Miami last year, and was on par with the Russian for most of Monday's encounter. But her poor break point conversion rate ended up costing her dearly. The Israeli, who is ranked No. 19 in the world, converted just four of her 11 break points, while Kuznetsova took advantage of five of her six break opportunities. Also Monday, Dudi Sela lost 6-4, 6-4 against Jose Acasuso of Argentina in the seond round of the men's tournament. Meanwhile, Lindsay Davenport's career comeback hit a bump Monday when she lost to Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth round. It was a flat followup to Sunday's upset over No. 2-ranked Ana Ivanovic, the biggest win for Davenport since she returned to the women's tour in the middle of last year after giving birth to a son. Against Safina, Davenport totaled 34 unforced errors, including six double faults. She hit only 20 winners to 31 for Safina, seeded 13th. No. 6 Venus Williams reached the quarterfinals by beating 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3. A superior serve and return helped Williams defeat Wozniacki, a Dane who has won 14 matches this year to climb to a career-best 43rd in the WTA Tour rankings. Williams lost only six points on her first serve and repeatedly slammed Wozniacki's serve for winners. "I played some good tennis and aggressive when I needed to, and a lot of really good service games," Williams said. Seeded sixth, Williams finished with 23 winners and only 18 errors. She's 10-4 this year and trying for her first 2008 title. Williams is a three-time Key Biscayne champion, but her most recent title in the event came in 2001. "I definitely feel like I'm playing well," she said. "I'm always trying to take it to another level, regardless. If I'm playing on cloud nine, I'm trying to get to cloud 10, and actually cloud 11."