Tennis / Peer, Levy vanquish Slovaks in Far East

With all the hoopla surrounding her entry into the Tournament of Champions in Bali, Shahar Peer, ranked 31st in the world, will have a chance to make more news on the court than off following her impressive straight sets victory in the group stage yesterday over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

Peer, whose appearance in the tournament was made possible only after the Indonesian government relented to pressure from tennis organizers and approved her visa request, will face No. 12 Marion Bartoli this afternoon.

Bartoli also defeated Rybarikova in straight sets on Wednesday, pitting her against Peer. The winner of today's match will then advance to the semifinals of the tournament, which is the last event on the women's tennis calendar this year.

Peer was dominant in the first set, breaking Rybarikova's serve twice while converting 74 percent of her first serves.

In the second set, Peer raced out to a 4-1 lead before the 46th-ranked Slovakian reeled off four straight games to take a 5-4 advantage. Peer then forced the set into a tiebreaker, during which she never lost control.

Levy advances in Korea

Harel Levy qualified for the quarterfinal of the Chuncheon Tournament in South Korea yesterday after his 6-4, 6-2 disposal of Pavel Cervenak in the round of 8.

Levy, who is ranked 137th in the world, will face Tobias Kamke of Germany in the next round. Kamke is ranked 244th in the world.