Shahar Peer and Dudi Sela underlined their dominance of Israeli tennis by winning their respective Israeli championship titles in Ra’anana last weekend.
World number 29 Peer comfortably disposed of Julia Glushko (320), 6-3, 6-0, while Sela (43) lifted his first national title since 2006 with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Amir Weintraub (576).
Peer, who won her sixth national championships and her fourth in a row, insists that she is attempting to surpass Tova Epstein’s record of eight in a row, achieved between 1965 and 1972.
Peer will begin her season in Auckland, New Zealand, next week before playing in Hobart as a final preparation for the year’s first Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne.
Sela was gracious in victory over Weintraub.
“Amir played really well. He surprised me and was very aggressive,” said Sela, who will begin 2010 at the Chennai Open in India next Monday, before playing in Sydney ahead of the start of the Australian Open on January 18.
The men’s doubles title went to Andy Ram and his coach Noam Behr, playing together in the absence of the injured Yoni Erlich. They defeated Sela and Sa’ar Stil 6-3, 6-3.
Chen Astrogo and Keren Shlomo claimed the women’s title, beating Efrat Zlotikman and Alexandra Kichutkin 6-2, 6-1.