Jews struggling in Aus Open prep
THE Jewish tennis stars set to hit Melbourne Park for the upcoming Australian Open have struggled in preparation for the grand slam.
THE Jewish tennis stars set to hit Melbourne Park for the upcoming Australian Open have struggled in preparation for the grand slam.
Shahar Peer, who bowed out to German Sabine Lisicki in the second round of last year’s Australia Open, hasn’t won an international match since July and is currently ranked 73rd in the world.
She did regain the Israel Championship after beating Julia Glushko – who is ranked 177th and will take part in the qualifyers in Melbourne – but has had a poor start to 2013.
Peer lost her first match of the year to world number 126 Elina Svitolina in the first round of the Shenzhen Open, before bowing out of the qualifyers of the Sydney International after a 6-0, 6-4 smashing at the hands of Greta Arn, ranked 113th.
Dudi Sela is set to lose the mantle of the country’s best male player, after up-and-comer Amir Weintraub, ranked 196th in the world, defeated him at the national championships.
Sela, who has slid down to 114, did defeat American Rajeev Ram in the first round of the Chennai Open, but went on to lose 6-1, 6-0 to Benoît Paire.
Both he and Weintraub, who lost in the first round of the Noumea Challenger, will take part in the qualifying round of the Australian Open, hoping to earn a berth in the main draw.
Canadian Jesse Levine has had a busy start to the year, making it to the first round of the Brisbane International, before playing in the Heineken Open in New Zealand as The AJN went to print.
The world number 104 will be looking to go further than he did at last year’s Australian grand slam, when he bowed out in an epic five-set match in the first round.
Italian star Camila Giorgi has also struggled early this year, losing in the first round of qualifying in both Brisbane and Sydney.
Giorgi, ranked 74th in the world, has a guaranteed spot in the first round of the main draw at the Australian Open.
Other Jewish players likely to take part in Melbourne include Israeli doubles pair Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich, wheelchair tennis star Noam Gershony, juniors Bar Tzuf Botzer, Or Ram-Harel and Valeria Patiuk, and Americans Scott Lipsky, Wayne Odesnik and Julia Cohen.
Ashley Shenker
Photo: Peter Haskin
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