Shahar Peer advanced to the second round of the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championships after defeating American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 yesterday.

Peer, the number 5 seed, will face Russia's Olga Puchkova, who defeated Ukraine's Juliana Fadek, in the second round.

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Peer opened yesterday's match very strongly. After suffering a break in the first game, she turned things around and won six straight to take the first set. The second set was much more even, as Peer fell behind 3-1, came back to take a 5-4 lead, but lost three straight games along with the set. In the third set, Peer was extremely focused, and did not give her opponent a chance to get back into the match.

Meanwhile, Harel Levy lost to Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 in the third qualifying round of the Chennai Open yesterday. Levy had an opportunity to close out the match when he was up 5-3 with two match points, but failed to do so in a disappointing loss.