Shahar Pe'er (Hebrew: שחר פאר, pronounced [ˈʃaχaʁ peˈʔeʁ]; born (1987-05-01)1 May 1987) is an Israeli retired tennis player.

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

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.

[3][4] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

At the quarterfinals, Pe'er and Azarenka, the sixth seed, lost to the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

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.

Pe'er's next tournament was the Sony Ericsson Open, the WTA Tour's second Premier Mandatory event of the year.

Pe'er reached the Estoril Open semifinals, but retired during her match against Yanina Wickmayer due to a leg injury.

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.

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

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.

Beginning her clay court season, Pe'er made it to the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix by defeating Polona Hercog, world No.

Playing in her final US Open Series, Pe'er was seeded 14th at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, but was upset in the first round, by Kaia Kanepi.

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

Pe'er started the year by playing in Brisbane, where she defeated Sophie Ferguson, 6–4, 6–2, but lost to Lucie Šafářová in the second round.

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.

Pe'er's best result in the next several tournaments came at the Italian Open where she reached the third round before losing 6–2, 6–2 to eventual champion Maria Sharapova.

45 in the world at the time) was prevented from playing at the Dubai Tennis Championships by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which denied her a visa.

The 2008 winner of the men's singles, Andy Roddick, withdrew from the tournament and chose not to defend his title (with prize money of over $2 million) to protest the UAE's refusal to grant Pe'er a visa.

Tournament director Salah Tahlak said that Pe'er was refused on the grounds that her appearance could incite anger in the Arab country after she had already faced protests at the ASB Classic over the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.

To add to the pressure, the tournament took place at the time when Dubai authorities were investigating the killing of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, which the UAE blamed on Israeli agents, some posing as European tennis fans.