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Shahar Peer is becoming used to making history. It might not have been for reasons she might have wanted - like winning a grand slam or becoming world No 1 - but it was significant nonetheless.
In February, Peer became the first Israeli to play tennis in a Persian Gulf state when she played in the Qatar Open in Doha. Israel is not exactly embraced into the bosom of the Middle East but Peer found, a little surprisingly, no hostility towards her participation.
Admittedly Qatar, a small emirate of 850,000 people on the border of the deeply conservative Saudi Arabia, is one of the more progressive states in the Middle East. But Qatar has no diplomatic relations with Israel and there were some who were more than a little nervous about her participation.
Peer, who was world No 17 at the time, wanted to play at the top tournaments and saw no reason not to play. Both local organisers and the WTA couldn't find one either, although it didn't stop them from offering her 24-hour security.
"There were no issues and they welcomed me warmly," Peer says from South Africa, where she is training ahead of the 2009 season. "I have never had any issues during my career. Politics haven't come into it."
Peer has always been wary of being a political pawn. She is not the only Israeli on the tour but, since the retirement of former world No 15 Anna Smashnova, is the highest ranked.
The fact Peer served in the Israeli army is an illustration that she is aware of where she comes in the world.
In 2005, she was drafted into the Israeli army for two years compulsory military service, although it was not all patrols and manning borders.
"They have a special programme for athletes and we go for a few hours every day," she explains. "There are different levels of soldiers in Israel. I did basic training for two weeks but spent most of my time in more of an office job doing administration.
"It didn't interfere with tennis at all. Actually my best year on tour was when I was in the army."
Peer rose to No 15 in the world in January 2007 on the back of some impressive form in 2006. She won three titles that year, her only titles to date, as well as two doubles titles.
This year, however, has been something of a struggle and her ranking has dropped to 38, her lowest in three years.
"It was my worst year," she admits. "I'm not used to losing as much as I did. I'm not sure why it happened but every athlete in every sport goes through hard times and it was my time. I'm sure it will happen again but hopefully next time I will be able to adjust better.
"I'm in the middle of pre-season and I believe I'm on the right track to play my best tennis."
Peer will hope that starts at the ASB Classic early next month, when she will be the tournament's seventh seed. It will be the 21-year-old's third visit to Auckland. She reached the quarter-finals in 2005 after coming through qualifying before being beaten by eventual winner Katarina Srebotnik, while in 2006 she was ousted in the first round by Korean Yoon Jeong Cho.
"It's been two years since I have played there so I think it's time I came back," she says.
