Tzipora Obziler

Tennis career

She has won 13 singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF circuit. Despite her late run, she played her best tennis over the last few years and qualified for several grand slam events.

She started playing tennis at age 10, with friends. In 1997 she won ITF tournaments in singles in Jaffa and Antalya. In 1998 she repeated in Jaffa. In 1999 she won in Guimaraes, Portugal, and Azemeis, Portugal, and 2 tournaments in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2000, she won tournaments in Ashkelon and Beersheba in Israel.

In 2002, she won in Mumbai, India, and Nonthaburi, Thailand. In November she defeated world # 62 Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland in France. In 2003 in India she had an upset win over world No. 36 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia in straight sets.

In 2004, she played world # 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne in the US Open, winning a set but losing in the second round. In 2005, she won both the singles and doubles (with Shahar Pe'er) titles in Raanana, Israel. She also upset world No. 47 Émilie Loit of France in the Australian Open in two sets.

In 2006, she managed to get further than the 2nd-round of a WTA event in her first event of the year at Auckland and at Guangzhou in late September. In Auckland, she reached the quarterfinals with two good wins over Jamea Jackson and the 5th-seeded world No. 27 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, before falling to Daniela Hantuchová. In Guangzhou, she reached the semifinals of the tournament, along the way defeating world No. 51 Elena Vesnina of Russia and world No. 20 Li Na of China, before falling to the 4th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues in three sets.

Other than that, she qualified for the Australian Open and various WTA tour events, she won an ITF title in Washington, DC, and finally an ITF doubles title in Antalya-Manavgat partnering Romina Oprandi.

In 2007, she beat 56th-ranked Aiko Nakamura of Japan in the round of 16 of the Pattaya City tournament in Thailand. She also made it to the semifinals in Bangalore and Patras. In August at the US Open she lost in the first round to world No. 86 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. On September 30, 2007, she reached her first final on the WTA Tour, in which she lost to Virginie Razzano at the Guangzhou International Women's Open.

She represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, in both singles and (with Shahar Pe'er) doubles.

On August 13, 2009, Obziler convened a press conference to announce her retirement from professional tennis.

Federation Cup

Obziler was 48–30 in Federation Cup matches between 1994 and 2007, including wins in 12 of her most recent 13 matches. Obziler was part of Israel's Federation Cup team that won 10 ties in a row to reach the competition's quarterfinals in 2008 – Israel's greatest Federation Cup achievement in history. Obziler currently holds the world record for most Federation Cup Ties Played, at 61. She shares the record with compatriot Anna Smashnova.

Personal life

Obziler speaks Hebrew and English. After graduating from high school, she served two years in the IDF (the Israeli Army). Obziler is a computer BA graduate from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. She and her partner Hadas have a daughter together. Obziler took a break from professional tennis when the baby was born, and came back to play in 2008.