Israel’s Shahar Peer lost in the semifinals of a tennis tournament in Australia.
Unseeded Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka, Peer’s doubles partner, defeated the fifth-seeded Peer, 6-4, 6-2, on Friday to reach the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts final, a primer for the Australian Open, in Queensland.
Azarenka, the world’s 30th-ranked player, was beaten in the title match by another non-seed, Li Na of China.
Peer entered the tournament ranked 17th in the world.
Last year she advanced further than any Israeli in a Grand Slam event by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 14 in Melbourne.
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