 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jun 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jun 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jun 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jun 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jun 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jun 2004 |
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| 02 Jun 2004 - Paris - Eleanor Preston | |
| Peer peerless in Paris |
Girls’ Australian Open champion Shahar Peer of Israel stormed through to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros with a 64 75 win over Belarussian Viktoria Azarenka.
Peer stormed through the early stages of the third round contest until a brief wobble at 5-0 up in the second threatened to undo all her good work.
“I’m happy to be through but there are lots of things I could have done better,” said Peer. “I think maybe I got a little bit too loose at 5-0 up, as though I thought it was over and she played better too. I played better from 5-5 and got it done but it wasn’t easy in the end.”
Peer now plays Ukrainian Katerina Bondarenko, who had to come from a set down to beat Monica Niculescu of Romania 57 64 64. “She’s a good player so it will be tough,” said Peer. “She has a lot of experience on the WTA Tour already so she must be playing good. If I play well then who knows what can happen. I just hope it will be a good match.”
Peer gained national fame in Israel with her victory in Melbourne in January and returned home to be feted by the Israeli media and overwhelmed with interview requests and photo opportunities.
“It was crazy when I got back there, really crazy but we are a small country so if you do something well people notice,” she said. “Also the political situation is bad so sport is important because it makes people happy.”
Peer is a veteran of that kind of attention, having been similarly celebrated when she won the under-14 title at the Orange Bowl three years ago. “In the beginning I was a little bit shy but I learned a lot from that,” she said. “Now I know what to say and what questions people are going to ask and I’m a lot more confident.”
That confidence will stand her in good stead through the rest of the tournament, though she dismissed any suggestion that being a junior Grand Slam champion gives her any advantage.
”I think in a way it makes it more difficult because the other girls look at you and want to beat you,” she said. “Once you get to the quarterfinals it doesn’t make much difference who’s won things and who hasn’t, because every day is different and everyone is playing well.”
That’s certainly true of top seed Sesil Karantcheva of Bulgaria, who lived up to her top billing by beating Canada’s Stephanie Dubois with some ease, 63 63. She now faces Elena Vesnina after the Russian took care of Czech Katerina Bohmova 64 64.
In the other quarterfinals, Timea Bacsinszky takes on Michaela Krajicek and Verdiana Verardi of Italy plays Madalina Gojnea from Romania.
In the boys’ competition Ukraine-born American Alex Kuznetsov scored the upset of the day by knocking out French favourite Josselyn Ouanna, who was runner-up at the Australian Open boys’ tournament in January. Ouanna was hampered by a hamstring injury and Kuznetsov, who recently trained with the US senior Davis Cup squad, was poised to take full advantage, despite being 0-3 down in the opening set and a break down again in the third.
“I came out there nervous because I knew the guy was a great player,” he said, “but I also knew that if I could stay with him then I’d have the chance to take a set and maybe even more. I had to try because this is the French Open and it’s my biggest match of the year. I just had to believe in myself. That was the main factor.”
Kuznetsov now faces his doubles partner Michael Zverev of Germany in the last eight after Zverev beat Tushar Liberhan of India 63 63. Kuznetsov’s compatriot Brendan Evans became the second American through to the quarters with a 62 64 win over Austria’s Martin Fischer. Evans faces Lukas Lacko of Slovakia. In the other last eight clashes, France’s Gael Monfils plays Italy’s Fabio Fognini and Spain’s Pablo Andujar takes on Slovakian Kamil Capkovic.
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