Shahar Pe'er (, ; born ) is an Israeli retired tennis player.
Pe'er won five singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career. She reached her best singles ranking of world number 11, the highest of any Israeli tennis player in history, in January 2011. She peaked at number 14 in the doubles rankings in May 2008.
Pe'er is widely regarded as the most successful Israeli female tennis player in history, having twice reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal in singles and appeared in the doubles final of the 2008 Australian Open, with Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. She won her first senior national title at the age of 14, and won the Junior Girls’ Australian Open title when she was 16.
Playing for Israel at the Fed Cup, Pe'er has a win–loss record of 39–28. She also represented Israel in two Olympics.
Early life Pe'er was born in Jerusalem, Israel, and is Jewish."Shahar PEER," ITF Tennis."Tennis, anyone?", New Jersey Jewish News. Her father is Dov "Dovik" Pe'er who was born in South Africa in 1955 and immigrated to Israel in 1961, and her mother is Aliza. Her paternal grandfather Solly had volunteered as a medic in Israel after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War."Doubles Partners South Africa and Israel – a tennis saga of enriching contribution," telfed. She began playing tennis at the age of six when she joined her brother Shlomi and her sister Shani in tennis lessons. When Shahar was one, she and her family moved to Maccabim, Israel."Shahar Pe’er," israel1.
At the age of 19, Pe'er was enlisted as a soldier to the Israel Defense Forces. When not abroad participating in tennis tournaments, she spent her mornings working as an administrative secretary for the IDF, and her afternoons practicing tennis.
Career Early years Pe'er began playing tennis competitively when she was six. Her first tournament win was in the doubles event with partner Nicole Vaidišová at the Eddie Herr International tournament when she was 12. She also reached the singles final at that tournament.
In 2001, Pe'er won the Nike Junior Tour International Masters tennis tournament and the Israeli women's tennis championship (the youngest Israeli to do so). She also won her age category at the Junior Orange Bowl.
In 2002, Pe'er won in singles at the Bat Yam International and in doubles at the Haifa International. She won the Amata Cup in Thailand in March 2003.
Pe'er's first major victory came at the 2004 Australian Open, where she won the Juniors' Championship. She beat her former partner Vaidišová in the final, and became the first Israeli woman to win a junior Grand Slam title since Anna Smashnova won the French Open girls' singles title in 1990.
Junior Grand Slam Records
2004–2005
Pe'er turned professional in 2004, a year during which she played both the ITF Circuit and the WTA Tour.
In 2005, Pe'er first played the main draw of a Grand Slam event, reaching the third round in both the French Open and the US Open. Pe'er finished 2005 ranked No. 45 in the world.
2006–2007 In January 2006 in Canberra, Australia, she lost a marathon semifinal match (the first of her career) against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues that lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes. At the time it was one of the ten longest matches in WTA Tour history.
In May 2006 she beat world no. 15 Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany in the semifinals and then upset world No. 2 Anastasia Myskina of Russia, to win in the finals of a level III event in Turkey.
At the 2006 French Open, Pe'er defeated world No. 8 Elena Dementieva of Russia in the round of 32, but lost to Martina Hingis, in their fourth-round match.
Pe'er reached the fourth round of the 2006 US Open, defeating world No. 15 Francesca Schiavone, but later fell to Justine Henin Hardenne.
Pe'er finished 2006 ranked 20th in the world, after winning her first three WTA singles titles that year in Pattaya, Prague, and Istanbul.
At the 2007 Australian Open, Pe'er made history by becoming the first Israeli woman to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event. In the fourth round she defeated world No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, but was defeated in her quarterfinal match against eventual champion Serena Williams.
In March 2007 at Indian Wells, she defeated world no. 11 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia before losing in the quarterfinals to eventual winner Daniela Hantuchová. The following month at the Miami Masters, Pe'er made it to her first Tier 1 tournament semifinals before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams.
At the 2007 Rome Masters, Pe'er was defeated in the third round, again by Serena Williams. It was her fourth career loss to Williams, and the third in 2007. After beating Kuznetsova twice earlier in 2007, she met Kuznetsova for the third time in the fourth round of the French Open and lost.
Pe'er's impressive year soured with a disappointing appearance in Wimbledon in early July, where she lost in the third round to eventual runner-up Marion Bartoli. This was followed by three tournaments in California (the Bank of the West Classic, the Acura Classic, and the JPMorgan Chase Open) in which Pe'er was seeded, but was ousted by an unseeded player in either the first or second round. In late August, at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Pe'er managed to pass the first two rounds, only to be ousted again by unseeded Virginie Razzano.
Pe'er went into the 2007 US Open seeded 18th and suffering from a chest injury. She beat Americans Meilen Tu and Bethanie Mattek, world No. 15 Czech Nicole Vaidišová, and Agnieszka Radwańska from Poland to reach her first US Open and second Grand Slam quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals she lost in straight sets to world No. 6, Anna Chakvetadze.
Following her successful appearance at the US Open, Pe'er lost in the second round at Luxembourg and at Stuttgart and fell in the quarterfinals of a Tier III event in Bangkok. Her return to center stage at the Zurich Open was again cut short with a first round loss. Finishing as a doubles runner-up in Luxembourg (partnering Victoria Azarenka) helped Pe'er achieve a career-high doubles ranking of 25 on 1 October.
Pe'er finished 2007 ranked 17th in the world.
2008
At the Australian Open, Pe'er was seeded No. 17, and lost in the third round to No. 11 seed Elena Dementieva. In the doubles tournament, Pe'er and her partner Azarenka were seeded No. 12. They got to final, where they lost to Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko. Following her first doubles Grand Slam final appearance Pe'er achieve a career-high doubles ranking of 16.
Late February, Pe'er became the first Israeli to compete in a WTA Tour event in the Arabian Peninsula when she reached the third round of the Qatar Total Open in Doha.Peer becomes 1st Israeli to play in Gulf Arab region, advances in Qatar Open, International Herald Tribune, 18 February 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
Pe'er lost at the second round in Indian Wells, the third in Miami and the first in Berlin. At the French Open, Pe'er was seeded No. 17 but lost in the first round to wild card recipient, Australian Samantha Stosur, a former top 30 player that was making a comeback from an injury. Together with partner Azarenka she reached the semifinals in both Miami and Berlin. In early May, Pe'er achieved a career-high doubles ranking of 14.
In Wimbledon, Pe'er advanced to the fourth round, before losing to No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva. Earlier, in the third round, Pe'er defeated the 9th seed Dinara Safina after a three-hours and 25 minutes match, the third-longest ladies' singles match in Wimbledon history.Safina succumbs to Peer pressure At the doubles tournament, Pe'er equaled her best result from 2005, after she and Victoria Azarenka reached the quarterfinals. At the quarterfinals, Pe'er and Azarenka, the sixth seed, lost to the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
Pe'er then represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she lost in the second round to 9 seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia.
Pe'er fell ten places in the World Rankings from the start of the hardcourt season. She was dispatched in the first round of the US Open by China's Li Na.
She finished the year 2008 ranked World No. 38 with a singles record of 26–24 and a doubles record of 19–17.
2009 Pe'er started the year by playing in the ASB Classic in Auckland. Entering as the No. 5 seed, she defeated Petra Cetkovská in the first round and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the second round before losing to top seed and eventual champion Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to No. 11 seed Caroline Wozniacki.
After this event, Pe'er played in Israel's first tie of the 2009 Fed Cup. She won both her singles rubbers, against Kateryna Bondarenko and Alona Bondarenko. In the deciding doubles match (Ukraine won the other two singles rubbers), Pe'er teamed up with Tzipora Obziler, but they lost to the Bondarenkos.
At the Pattaya Women's Open, Pe'er was seeded seventh. She made it to the semifinals, before losing to top seeded Vera Zvonareva.
Pe'er lost in the first round of her next tournament, the Monterrey Open, to Iveta Benešová, the tournament's sixth-seed. She redeemed herself at the BNP Paribas Open, a WTA Premier event. She started the fortnight off defeating Kateryna Bondarenko, then upset 10th seeded Marion Bartoli 19th seeded Anna Chakvetadze before losing to the 8th seed and former doubles partner Victoria Azarenka. In doubles, paired with Gisela Dulko, she lost again lost to Azarenka and her partner Vera Zvonareva in the finals.
Pe'er's next tournament was the Sony Ericsson Open, the WTA Tour's second Premier Mandatory event of the year. She advanced to the second round before losing to fifth–seeded Venus Williams.
Pe'er reached the Estoril Open semifinals, but retired during her match against Yanina Wickmayer due to a leg injury. A week later she played in the Madrid Open, but had to retire again in her first round match, this time against Caroline Wozniacki. Pe'er's injury resulted in her missing the French Open.
In the first round at Wimbledon, Pe'er advanced to the second round before losing to No. 10 seed Nadia Petrova. At the GDF Suez Grand Prix she reached the quarterfinals losing to Alona Bondarenko. She then reached the second rounds of Bad Gastein and Los Angeles. In Toronto, Pe'er advanced to the third round before losing to eventual champion Elena Dementieva.
Pe'er reached the third round of the US Open before losing to the No. 6 seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In September, Pe'er ended a three-year drought without a tournament win at the Guangzhou International Women's Open in China without dropping a set. In the final, Pe'er beat Italy's Alberta Brianti. She went on to win the Tashkent Open the following week, also without dropping a set, completing 10 successive straight-sets wins in a couple of weeks. In the final she beat local hero Akgul Amanmuradova. After these wins, Pe'er's world ranking increased to No. 34.
Pe'er was the fifth seed in the new HP Open in Osaka. She was defeated in the first round by world No. 61 Sania Mirza. Pe'er then made the semi-finals of the BGL Luxembourg Open where she lost to Sabine Lisicki.
At the Tournament of Champions, Pe'er's final tournament of the year, she defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková in the first round robin match but then lost to top seed Marion Bartoli, thus failing to make the semifinal.
Pe'er ended the year with a win–loss record of 41–23. She finished the year ranked No. 30 in the world.
2010
Pe'er started her 2010 season by reaching the semifinals of the ASB Classic before losing to Yanina Wickmayer. At the 2010 Moorilla Hobart International, Pe'er made it to the finals, before losing to Alona Bondarenko in straight sets.