Shahar Pe'er

Her paternal grandfather Solly had volunteered as a medic in Israel after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shahar Pe'er (שחר פאר, ; born May 1, 1987) 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 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.

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.

French Open – Quarter Final (2003, 2004)

Pe'er's first major victory came at the 2004 Australian Open, where she won the Juniors' Championship.

Australian Open – Win (2004)

Wimbledon – Quarter Final (2004)

US Open – Semi Final (2004)

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.

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.

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.

Pe'er was born in Jerusalem, Israel, and is Jewish.

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