Peer marks Dubai debut with first-round win
February 15th, 2010 - 8:52 pm ICT by IANS
Dubai, Feb 15 (DPA) Israeli Shahar Peer marked her tournament debut at the Barclays Tennis Championships Monday with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 upset first-round win over US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer.
The 13th-seeded Belgian went down in a shade under two hours as Peer took her place in the field after being denied a visa a year ago.
Israel and the UAE have no diplomatic ties and the 2009 incident sparked an uproar. Dubai organizers had to give guarantees that Peer and any other WTA player would be assured of entry to the Gulf emirate.
Peer, ranked 22nd and the winner of five titles, boasts a final at Hobart, Tasmania, last month. She now stands 12-4 on the season after handing Wickmayer her third defeat of 2010.
Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia advanced over Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-4 to face top seed and US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki, playing the event for the first time.
Holder Venus Williams takes the third seeding behind Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
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Tags: barclays, caroline wozniacki, diplomatic ties, dpa, guarantees, gulf emirate, hobart tasmania, organizers, semi finalist, shahar peer, shvedova, slovakia, svetlana kuznetsova, tennis championships, third defeat, uae, uproar, venus williams, wta player, yanina wickmayer