Shahar Peer retires from tennis

Former world No. 11 Shahar Peer, the most successful Israeli woman to play on the WTA Tour, announced her retirement because of injury on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old right-hander won five singles titles in 12 years on the WTA Tour and reached her career-high ranking in January 2011.

Peer had not played a match on tour since the Abierto Monterrey in February last year, when she lost in the opening round of qualifying.

“I made this decision following a chronic inflammation in my shoulder, that has been lasting for over two years, and prevents me from competing at the high level that I am used to and expect from myself,” Peer, 29, wrote on Facebook.

Hi Everyone, I want to share with you one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in my life. After 23 years, in which 13 of those years I was an international professional tennis player, I am retiring 🙂 I made this decision following a chronic inflammation in my shoulder, that has been lasting for over two years, and prevents me from competing at the high level that I am used to and expect from myself. At the same time, I lost my desire for the game of tennis and the intense way of life I have lived since I was 6.5 years old. I look back on this experience with a huge smile, a lot of happiness and satisfaction. I am proud of all of my accomplishments as well as the huge honor I was given to represent the state of Israel. I want to thank everyone for your never-ending support that I received every single day, every hour and every place I went to around the world. This Friday, "Ulpan Shishi" on Channel 2 will broadcast a segment about my career, my deliberation about my retirement, and my plans for the future. I promise to continue to update you about every interesting development of Chapter 2 of my life. Yours, Shahar 🙂

A post shared by shaharpeer (@shaharpeer) on Feb 28, 2017 at 10:01am PST

“I look back on this experience with a huge smile, a lot of happiness and satisfaction.

“I am proud of all of my accomplishments as well as the huge honour I was given to represent the state of Israel.”

Peer, who turned professional in 2004, became the first Israeli woman to make the quarter-finals of a grand slam, doing so twice in 2007, at the Australian Open and US Open.

In 2008, she became the first Israeli to compete at a WTA tournament in the Arabian Peninsula when she took part in the Qatar Open.

In addition to her successful WTA career, Peer was a Fed Cup stalwart for Israel, playing 76 matches and compiling a 45-31 record, and in 2008 she represented Israel at the Beijing Olympics.