Shahar Peer to Make Tennis History at Qatar Total Open in Doha
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Feb 16, 2008 | Print |
Shahar Peer is on the verge of making tennis history next week when she competes at the Qatar Total Open.
Never in the history of women’s tennis has a player from Israel competed in a Persian Gulf state.
Peer has been the figure of many recent news profiles, including stories in USA Today, Time Magazine, and the Jerusalem Post.
Time Magazine: Match Point by Tim McGirk
“Shahar Peer, ranked 17th on the women’s tennis tour, requested a berth in the Qatar Open, which runs from Feb. 18-24 in the capital city, Doha, and offers a $2.5 million purse. To her surprise, Peer found she was pushing against an open door; both the Qatar tournament organizers and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) agreed that she could compete.
“They all welcomed me warmly,” she told TIME at the end of a grueling practice session in Tel Aviv with her part-time coach, Conchita Mart ínez, a 1994 Wimbledon champion. Tennis officials assured the young Israeli that she would be given round-the-clock security in Qatar, and one member of her entourage was told that Peer would be treated “like the Emir’s wife.”
USA Today: Peace and tennis? Israeli Peer to play in Qatar by Douglas Robson
“WTA CEO Larry Scott said the tour views Qatar as one of the more progressive countries in the region, which is part of the reason it relocated the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships from Madrid last year. Scott said he has been intimately involved in making sure Peer and any other player would be welcome there, and has spoken repeatedly to Peer’s family and with tennis and government officials.
“I just hope there is a positive, warm reaction,” he says. Though Scott says he doesn’t want to “overstate” the impact of Peer’s visit, he believes it illustrates how female tennis players are “breaking down stigmas in that part of the world.”
Jerusalem Post: The Friday Interview: Shahar Pe’er, Israel’s trailblazing star by Jeremy Last
“And this coming week Pe’er will again boldly step where no Israeli tennis player has stepped before, when she becomes the first competitor from the Jewish state to play in a top level tournament hosted by a Gulf State.
The Qatar Open in Doha has attracted the majority of the highest ranked players in world tennis and Pe’er says she felt there was no reason not to take part, even though Qatar has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
“We have been talking with the tournament director about my participation for the last few weeks and I’m not concerned at all. I’m really fine with it. There shouldn’t be any problems,” she tells The Jerusalem Post. “I’m feeling great. I’ve never been there before and I’m very excited. I’ve been training hard this week and I’m really looking forward to it.”
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