76 Facts About Shahar Pe'er

1.

Shahar Pe'er is an Israeli retired tennis player.

2.

Shahar Pe'er reached her best singles ranking of world number 11, the highest of any Israeli tennis player in history, in January 2011.

3.

Shahar Pe'er peaked at number 14 in the doubles rankings in May 2008.

4.

Shahar 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.

5.

Shahar Pe'er won her first senior national title at the age of 14, and won the Junior Girls' Australian Open title when she was 16.

6.

Shahar Pe'er's 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.

7.

Shahar Pe'er began playing tennis at the age of six when she joined her brother Shlomi and her sister Shani in tennis lessons.

8.

When Shahar Pe'er was one, she and her family moved to Maccabim, Israel.

9.

At the age of 19, Shahar Pe'er was enlisted as a soldier to the Israel Defense Forces.

10.

In 2001, Shahar Pe'er won the Nike Junior Tour International Masters tennis tournament and the Israeli women's tennis championship.

11.

Shahar Pe'er won her age category at the Junior Orange Bowl.

12.

In 2002, Shahar Pe'er won in singles at the Bat Yam International and in doubles at the Haifa International.

13.

Shahar Pe'er won the Amata Cup in Thailand in March 2003.

14.

Shahar Pe'er beat her former partner Vaidisova 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.

15.

Shahar Pe'er turned professional in 2004, a year during which she played both the ITF Circuit and the WTA Tour.

16.

In 2005, Shahar 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.

17.

At the 2006 French Open, Shahar 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.

18.

Shahar Pe'er reached the fourth round of the 2006 US Open, defeating world No 15 Francesca Schiavone, but later fell to Justine Henin Hardenne.

19.

Shahar Pe'er finished 2006 ranked 20th in the world, after winning her first three WTA singles titles that year in Pattaya, Prague, and Istanbul.

20.

At the 2007 Australian Open, Shahar Pe'er made history by becoming the first Israeli woman to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event.

21.

At the 2007 Rome Masters, Shahar Pe'er was defeated in the third round, again by Serena Williams.

22.

Shahar Pe'er went into the 2007 US Open seeded 18th and suffering from a chest injury.

23.

Shahar Pe'er beat Americans Meilen Tu and Bethanie Mattek, world No 15 Czech Nicole Vaidisova, and Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland to reach her first US Open and second Grand Slam quarterfinals.

24.

At the Australian Open, Shahar Pe'er was seeded No 17, and lost in the third round to No 11 seed Elena Dementieva.

25.

Shahar Pe'er lost at the second round in Indian Wells, the third in Miami and the first in Berlin.

26.

At the French Open, Shahar 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.

27.

At the doubles tournament, Shahar Pe'er equaled her best result from 2005, after she and Victoria Azarenka reached the quarterfinals.

28.

Shahar Pe'er fell ten places in the World Rankings from the start of the hardcourt season.

29.

Shahar Pe'er was dispatched in the first round of the US Open by China's Li Na.

30.

Shahar Pe'er started the year by playing in the ASB Classic in Auckland.

31.

Shahar Pe'er won both her singles rubbers, against Kateryna Bondarenko and Alona Bondarenko.

32.

Shahar Pe'er made it to the semifinals, before losing to top seeded Vera Zvonareva.

33.

Shahar Pe'er lost in the first round of her next tournament, the Monterrey Open, to Iveta Benesova, the tournament's sixth-seed.

34.

Shahar Pe'er redeemed herself at the BNP Paribas Open, a WTA Premier event.

35.

Shahar Pe'er 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.

36.

Shahar Pe'er then reached the second rounds of Bad Gastein and Los Angeles.

37.

Shahar Pe'er went on to win the Tashkent Open the following week, without dropping a set, completing 10 successive straight-sets wins in a couple of weeks.

38.

Shahar Pe'er was the fifth seed in the new HP Open in Osaka.

39.

Shahar Pe'er was defeated in the first round by world No 61 Sania Mirza.

40.

Shahar Pe'er then made the semi-finals of the BGL Luxembourg Open where she lost to Sabine Lisicki.

41.

Shahar Pe'er finished the year ranked No 30 in the world.

42.

Shahar Pe'er started her 2010 season by reaching the semifinals of the ASB Classic before losing to Yanina Wickmayer.

43.

At the 2010 Moorilla Hobart International, Shahar Pe'er made it to the finals, before losing to Alona Bondarenko in straight sets.

44.

However, after the tournament, Shahar Pe'er's ranking moved up to world No 22.

45.

Shahar Pe'er then competed at the Open GDF Suez where she was seeded sixth.

46.

Shahar Pe'er made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Lucie Safarova.

47.

Shahar Pe'er continued her excellent start to the 2010 season at the Premier 5 event in Dubai where she reached the semifinals before losing to Venus Williams.

48.

At the Sony Ericsson Open, Shahar Pe'er made it to the third round before being defeated by world No 16 and eventual champion Kim Clijsters.

49.

Shahar Pe'er again lost to the eventual champion Justine Henin.

50.

Unseeded at the Madrid Open, a Premier Mandatory event, Shahar Pe'er caused an upset in the first round, defeating 2009 French Open Champion and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

51.

Shahar Pe'er was seeded 18th leading into the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the year.

52.

Shahar Pe'er was seeded 13th at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and advanced to the second round before being upset by Angelique Kerber in three sets.

53.

Shahar Pe'er next played at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, the opening tournament of the 2010 US Open Series where she was seeded sixth.

54.

At the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego, Shahar Pe'er was seeded seventh.

55.

Shahar Pe'er was seeded 16th at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season.

56.

Shahar Pe'er held her seeding by advancing to the round of 16, but lost to Venus Williams for the fourth time this season.

57.

Shahar Pe'er returned to the tour at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

58.

Shahar Pe'er then headed to Beijing to compete in the China Open, which is the final Premier Mandatory event of the season.

59.

Shahar Pe'er played in Sydney next, winning against Sybille Bammer, but losing the second round to Victoria Azarenka.

60.

Shahar Pe'er played herself into form at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she reached the semifinals in 2010, losing in the quarterfinals to top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki.

61.

Shahar Pe'er came into Wimbledon as the 22nd seed before her three-set loss to unseeded Russian Ksenia Pervak in the first round.

62.

Shahar Pe'er entered into the Citi Open as the top seed in College Park, Maryland, one of the two opening events for the 2011 US Open Series.

63.

Shahar Pe'er lost in the first round to second seed and last year finalist, Andrea Petkovic.

64.

Shahar Pe'er was beaten in the first round by sixth seed Julia Gorges.

65.

Shahar Pe'er lost in the third round to Christina McHale.

66.

In February 2009, Shahar Pe'er was prevented from playing at the Dubai Tennis Championships by the United Arab Emirates, which denied her a visa.

67.

Shahar Pe'er was not allowed to mix with other players off the court, was required to exercise in a separate gym, and was under strict guard on her way from the hotel to the court.

68.

Shahar Pe'er was widely praised by her fellow competitors for her composure under pressure during the tournament.

69.

Shahar Pe'er originally played with a "counter-puncher" style, but by 2010 she had adopted a more attacking style of play.

70.

Shahar Pe'er's forehand uses a semi-western grip, which makes her good in facing big top-spin opponents.

71.

Shahar Pe'er's backhand is two-handed and is one of the best on the women's tour.

72.

Shahar Pe'er loves to take many points with the inside out shot on her backhand.

73.

Shahar Pe'er originally used a kick serve that lacked the drive needed to penetrate deep, but she changed it to more of a slice serve, which works great for her now and even generates aces.

74.

Shahar Pe'er has a good volley and doesn't have a problem going to the net.

75.

Shahar Pe'er tasted victory again in 2009 beating both the Bondarenko sisters of Ukraine in Kharkiv.

76.

Shahar Pe'er retired in February 2017, one year after her last match.