Posted on 06/04/2006 2:20:29 AM PDT by beyond the sea
PARIS (AFP) - Israeli soldier Shahar Peer was one of the top marksmen in her military training and now she has Martina Hingis in her sights at the
The 19-year-old Peer knocked out Russian sixth seed Elena Dementieva 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday and faces Hingis on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.
Win or lose, Peer will continue to combine her tennis career with her obligation to serve two years military service with the Israeli army.
"I had to train with weapons during my two and half weeks basic training. I was one of the best in shooting. I really liked it and it was a great experience," said Peer who is the first Israeli to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam since Anna Smashnova here in 1998.
Peer's tennis career means she can take advantage of an Israeli government programme which allows professional sportsmen and women to spend their two years national service in mundane routines.
"I have to attend four hours every day but I just work in the office, dealing with the computers and answering the phones - no guns."
Peer, the 31st seed, is one of the tour's form players having won all her three career titles in 2006 including two on clay - at Prague and Istanbul - in the run-up to the French Open.
Ironically, it was Hingis who beat Smashnova when she made the fourth round in 1998.
"It's going to be a great match," said Peer, who made the third round in 2005. "There'll be no pressure. I came here to defend my third round from last year. Now I'm in the fourth round and I just hope to keep the run going."
Her success on clay is surprising. When she was growing up, she had to compete with other players to use the meagre four clay courts which existed in the country although she was able to gain valuable experience from travelling to Europe to play and practice.
That has all paid off. As well as her wins in Prague and Istanbul, she has also won 18 matches out of 18 in the Fed Cup.
I think Paris is unattractive.
I'd go for her old friend Nicole Richie in a moment over her.
Nicole is a riot, is funny and bright as heck. You add cute to that and you get a great ladie IMO.
You are correct here
Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic.....
She looks as big and tall as an Amazon. Sharapova is 6 feet tall
They are finishing up the match the morning. Hingis just won the third set 6-3!
I suppose today's headline will be 'Hingis slayed Jew'.
Thank you so much for that. I was JUST going to try to look up when it was to be played.
Thanks again!
lol ............
or ....... Hingis Persecutes Jewish Peer With Court Strategy
Well anyhow, I thought after a night of thinking, Martina would figure out how to beat this girl. But Peer must be pretty darn good.
By the way, did you see the finish? I wonder exactly HOW she beat Peer............ did Martina play real well or did Peer crumble just a little.
I guess I'll have to find out.
Thanks again.
"The match was suspended because of darkness after two sets Sunday, and resumed on a mild, hazy afternoon to start the tournament's final week."
"The first game was a 14-minute marathon, going to deuce five times before Hingis converted her third break-point chance."
"Peer promptly broke back. Hingis regained the lead for good with a break at love for 3-2 as she took charge by pinning Peer behind the baseline with deep groundstrokes, then moving to the net to close out points."
"Hingis won 13 of 15 points for a 5-2 lead. She hit a handful of shaky shots trying to close the victory but did so when Peer hit errant backhands on the last three points."
Is she going to take a stab at Monica Seles too?
Stupid-a$s headline.
The more I looked into the AFP, the more I found.
The PLO and Saudia Arabia have a lot of money to spread around.
You should apply to the AFP as a headline writer.
LOL.
LOL.........
It was the AFP that always ran a photo of Cheney with a large Israeli flag in the background,
even when the story was about a speech he made to farmers in the US Midwest.
Yeh, but the "s" should have been capitalized:
****
"Hingis Slayed Jew"
"Jew Overwhelmed at French by Swiss Miss (Where is all that gold and the paintings from WWII?)"
*****
No matter, Peer (the Jewish girl) seems to have a great future in the game.
Welcome to FR........ zealot.
Wow, you are a good sports writer.
I had to miss that and can't be on the net more than a minute tonight and boy did you draw a picture in my mind regarding what happened.
Thanks a lot.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060604/ids_photos_sp/r4125844994.jpg
I feel her pain!
She's so fine ............ I hope she gets healthy before Wimbledon.
Wimbledon.............. on the 26th.
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