Shahar Pe'er

Pe'er was born in Jerusalem on May 1, 1987, and moved with her family to nearby Maccabim while she was an infant.[5] Her father, Dov, worked in high-tech electronics, and her mother, Aliza, was a physical education teacher.[5] Her older brother, Shlomi, and sister, Shani, inspired her interest in tennis, and she began taking lessons alongside them at age six.[1][5]

Competitive tennis became a demanding part of her childhood: she recalled winning competitions from age nine and training for three to four hours a day, six days a week.[6] Looking back in a 2011 interview, she singled out two achievements at age 14 as especially significant in her development.[6] In 2001 she won the Israeli senior championship, and in December of that year she won the girls' title at the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships.[1][5] She joined Israel's senior national team in 2002, before her fifteenth birthday.[3]

In 2004, at age 16, Pe'er won the Australian Open junior girls' championship; she also turned professional that year.[2][5] At 17, she began working with a clinical psychologist to develop the emotional capacity required for professional competition, particularly the ability to handle stressful situations.[5] She later explained that she had initially assumed therapy was only for troubled people, but came to recognize its value for her mental preparation.[5] She graduated from high school in July 2005, during the early stages of her professional career.[5]

In 2005, Pe'er reached the quarterfinals of six Women's Tennis Association tournaments, establishing herself on the professional tour in the year she completed high school.[5] On October 30 she enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, where she received outstanding-athlete status permitting her to continue training and enter a select number of tournaments during her service.[1] Following three weeks of basic training, she was assigned administrative work under flexible arrangements that allowed professional athletes to practice and travel.[5]

Pe'er expressed enthusiasm about the personal experience of military service as well as her determination to continue competing.[1] On joining the IDF, she said: “I'll serve two years like everyone, and I hope to enjoy the experience,” adding that meeting new people in the army would be different from meeting people while traveling abroad.[1] She also spoke of wanting to “get out of my bubble” and meet other young women during her service.[1] Her simultaneous participation in professional tennis and the military attracted international media attention.[5]

Her first tournament semifinal came at Canberra in January 2006, when she lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues.[5] By the end of that month, she was ranked No. 43 by the WTA and was Israel's leading female player.[5] In February she won her first tour title at the Pattaya Women's Open.[5] Her progress continued in May, when she won the Prague singles tournament and, with Marion Bartoli, its doubles competition, before taking the Istanbul singles title later that month.[5]

National-team competition formed another important part of her breakthrough season.[5] In April 2006 she played for Israel in the Fed Cup competition in Bulgaria, helping the team through a series of important victories.[5] Among her wins was her first career victory over Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, then a top-20 player.[5] Pe'er, Anna Smashnova, and Tzipi Obziler won matches in the European-African Group I event at Plovdiv, enabling Israel to advance to a promotion playoff.[7]

At the 2006 French Open, Pe'er defeated top-10 player Elena Dementieva and advanced to the fourth round, where she lost to Martina Hingis.[5] She subsequently rose to No. 25 in the rankings and also reached the fourth round of the US Open, losing there to world No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne.[5] During 2006 she entered the world's top 20.[8] Her game combined intense competitiveness, effective court coverage, and changes of pace.[5]

The 2007 Australian Open brought Pe'er's first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal and a landmark result for Israeli women's tennis.[2] In the fourth round, the 19-year-old defeated world No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4, 6–2, recording her first career victory over a top-five player.[9] She became the first Israeli woman to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, where she faced eventual champion Serena Williams.[2][5] After two hours and 34 minutes, Pe'er lost 8–6 in the deciding set.[2]

The Australian Open run drew considerable attention in Israel, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert opened a weekly cabinet meeting by applauding her performance.[5] In a later recollection, Pe'er described the tournament as one of the most remarkable of her career and remembered Israeli fans supporting her from the first round.[7] The supporters helped her obtain tickets for the sold-out central court, and she recalled coming within two points of beating Williams.[7] She kept an Israeli flag the fans had given her, inscribed and signed “From the handful!”[7]

Pe'er reached the Memphis final in February 2007, losing to Venus Williams.[5] Later that year she reached the US Open singles quarterfinal, giving her two appearances at that stage of a Grand Slam during the same season.[2] Israel also continued its Fed Cup advance: with Julia Glushko joining the players involved, the team defeated Canada and then beat Austria 4–1 in Linz.[7] These results secured Israel a place among the world's top eight national teams and brought it into the World Group in 2008.[2][7]

At the 2008 Australian Open, Pe'er partnered Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka to reach the women's doubles final, her first Grand Slam final.[4] They lost to Ukrainian sisters Kateryna and Alona Bondarenko.[4] That year Pe'er also represented Israel at the Beijing Olympic Games.[3] She competed in Doha in 2008 after receiving a visa, becoming the first Israeli player to do so.[10]

In February 2009, at age 21 and ranked No. 45 in the world, Pe'er was denied a visa to enter the United Arab Emirates for the women's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.[10] The refusal prevented her from participating in the $2 million event.[10] The WTA condemned her exclusion and subsequently imposed a then-record $300,000 fine on the tournament organizers, while requiring written notification that she would be allowed to compete the following year.[1][10]

The exclusion drew responses from players, broadcasters, and sponsors.[1][11] Defending men's champion Andy Roddick withdrew in protest, the Tennis Channel declined to cover the tournament, and the Wall Street Journal Europe withdrew its sponsorship.[1][11] WTA leadership said it would review future action concerning the event.[11] Israeli doubles player Andy Ram received a visa for the men's tournament the following week, after the tour had received assurances that an Israeli player would be admitted.[1][10]

Pe'er called the denial an “injustice” and expressed confidence that tour organizers would act to prevent a repetition.[11] She stated: “There should be no place for politics in professional tennis or indeed any sport.”[11] Following the 2009 US Open, she won the Guangzhou Open in China and the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan; an interview published that year placed her at No. 34 in the world.[12]

Political protests also affected her participation at the ASB Classic in Auckland in January 2010.[13] Members of Global Peace and Justice Auckland protested outside her matches for four days, chanting through megaphones outside the tennis grounds.[13] Eight protesters were arrested after repeatedly disturbing her matches, and the group faced disorderly-behavior charges.[13] Pe'er reached the semifinals, where she lost, and spoke about the difficulty of hearing people shout her name and urge her to leave the tournament.[13]

Explaining the effect of the demonstrations, Pe'er said: “Unfortunately I have to deal with politics because of where I come from. It is not fair because I have nothing to do with politics, I am only a tennis player who wants to enjoy the tour like the other players.”[13] Her remarks emphasized her wish to participate on the same sporting terms as other competitors.[13]

Pe'er returned to Dubai in 2010 after receiving permission to enter and was assigned a special security detail.[1] Her opening-round victory over Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer, then ranked No. 15, held exceptional personal significance: she later identified it as the biggest victory of her career and the only win after which she cried with joy.[2] She continued to the semifinals, where Venus Williams defeated her 6–1, 6–4.[14]

The arrangements in Dubai separated Pe'er from other WTA competitors, restricted her movements for security reasons to travel between her hotel and the courts, and left her as the only player who did not play a match on center court.[14] Looking back in 2014, Pe'er described the experience as isolating, while saying that she respected the explanation that the restrictions were intended to protect her.[15] She was nevertheless glad to have received a visa and said the organizers had put politics aside.[15]

Williams had publicly threatened not to play in Dubai the following year if Pe'er were again denied entry, and the Anti-Defamation League subsequently honored her for her efforts.[14] After their 2010 semifinal, Williams praised Pe'er's courage and character in competing under the circumstances, and Pe'er expressed appreciation for her support during that week and the previous year.[14] WTA support helped Pe'er participate in Dubai in subsequent years.[1]

Pe'er reached the fourth round of the 2010 French Open and rose to world No. 14, setting a new Israeli tennis ranking record at that point.[16] The improvement followed a weaker season and an injury, and she observed that gaining even one ranking place became increasingly difficult near the top of the sport.[16] In January 2011 she reached her career-best singles ranking of No. 11, the highest attained by an Israeli tennis player, male or female.[17] The move from No. 12 came after the retired Elena Dementieva was removed from the rankings; Pe'er had been eliminated in the Australian Open's third round.[17]

Her career achievements included WTA titles in both singles and doubles.[1][3] She won the Israeli senior championship eight times and represented Israel at a second Olympic Games in London in 2012.[3] In a 2011 interview, she identified five women's-tour titles, two Grand Slam singles quarterfinals, and helping Israel reach the world's top eight national teams among her central accomplishments.[6]

Shoulder problems increasingly affected the latter part of her career.[2] In August 2014, pain left her in tears before a qualifying match in Montreal, and she considered retirement during that difficult period.[2] She continued because she wanted to leave the sport on her own terms, underwent treatment, and made a final comeback attempt in 2016.[2] Her last WTA Tour victory came in July 2015, and by the time she retired she had gone approximately a year without playing a competitive match.[2]

On February 28, 2017, Pe'er announced her retirement at age 29, describing a career encompassing 23 years of tennis and 13 years as an international professional.[3] She explained that chronic shoulder inflammation lasting more than two years prevented her from returning to the standard she expected of herself.[3] She also said she had lost her desire for tennis and the intense lifestyle she had followed since she was six and a half.[3] Her career record stood at 412 wins and 276 losses, and her prize money totaled $5,148,711.[3] In announcing her departure, she looked back on her career with happiness and satisfaction.[3]

Pe'er's No. 11 singles ranking established an Israeli record across men's and women's tennis.[17] Her 2007 Australian Open run made her the first Israeli woman to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, and she reached a second singles quarterfinal at the US Open later that year.[5][3] Her record also included a Grand Slam doubles final, two Olympic appearances, and a role in Israel's ascent to the Fed Cup's leading eight national teams.[3][4] These achievements accompanied a professional career in which she combined international competition with military service and repeatedly represented Israel in team events.[1][3]

Recognition in Israel extended beyond tournament results.[1] Pe'er was named Israel's Athlete of the Year in 2006 and 2007 and Kids' Favorite Athlete of the Year in each year from 2006 through 2009.[1] Her honors also included Woman of the Year in Press in 2009 and a Key Person in Media award from the Israeli Organization of Public Relations and Spokespersons.[1] In 2014 she was selected to light a torch at Israel's 66th Independence Day ceremony.[3]

Pe'er understood the torch-lighting honor as recognition both of her sporting achievements and of her role as a person representing Israel and the Jewish people.[15] In an interview that year, she expressed pride in her Jewish and Israeli identities.[15] Her participation in Jewish remembrance also included leading the March of the Living at Auschwitz in 2010 with her mother, Aliza, and her grandmother, Holocaust survivor Juliana Eckstein.[3]

Support from Jewish and Israeli communities was a recurring feature of her experience abroad.[12] Pe'er said that fans attended her matches around the world and that families in some cities hosted her rather than having her stay in hotels.[12] After the Dubai exclusion, she received hundreds of emails from Jews worldwide.[12] Her recollection of the signed Israeli flag from the 2007 Australian Open reflected the lasting personal importance she attached to the supporters who accompanied her tournament runs.[7]

Pe'er also spoke directly about the public significance of being an Israeli athlete.[12] In 2009 she said she understood that role and hoped her participation could show audiences that Israel was more than conflict.[12] Although she wanted politics kept separate from sport, she believed sporting competition could present Israel in a different light from the images seen in news coverage.[12] Her comments connected her wish to compete as an individual player with an awareness that her performances carried meaning for Israeli and Jewish audiences internationally.[12]

The principal public controversy surrounding Pe'er's career concerned her access to tournaments as an Israeli player, particularly the 2009 Dubai visa refusal and the special-security arrangements for her return in 2010.[1] The United Arab Emirates cited security concerns connected to Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.[1] Tournament director Salah Tahlak said her presence would antagonize fans who had watched television coverage of attacks in Gaza, while an organizers' spokesman cited her safety and heightened public sentiment in the Middle East.[10][11]

Auckland protest organizer John Minto separately claimed that his group's demonstrations the previous year had played a major role in the UAE's decision to refuse Pe'er a visa.[13] That was his explanation of the decision, distinct from the organizers' stated security rationale.[11][13] Pe'er consistently opposed the intrusion of politics into her participation, while acknowledging in her later account that the restrictions imposed in Dubai had been explained to her as safety measures.[15]