Peer through on Gold Coast

Peer: into round two

Israel's Shahar Peer has reached the second round of the Australian Hardcourt championships after defeating Julie Ditty of the United States in three sets on the Gold Coast.

The fifth seed overcame a sluggish start before finally advancing 3-6 6-0 6-2, Peer now facing the winner of the match between Lourdes Dominguez Lino and a qualifier.

"Julie was playing good and she's not even in the top 100," world number 17 Peer later said. "I had a lot of trouble with her. Every match I have to play good."

Sunday's two other first round matches saw France's Nathalie Dechy beat China's Zi Yan 6-2 6-2, while Belarussia's Victoria Azarenka beat two-time Gold Coast champion Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-2 6-3.

France's Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, will play her first round match on Monday against Olga Savchuk of Ukraine, while top seed Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic will meet local wildcard Casey Dellacqua.

Vaidisova and Mauresmo are scheduled to meet in the semi-finals of the tournament - the first of the 2008 WTA season - that runs until January 5th.

The Australian Open, the year's first grand slam, runs from January 14th - 27th.