Tzipora Obziler

Summary

Tzipora "Tzipi" Obziler (Hebrew: ציפורה אובזילר; born 19 April 1973) is an Israeli former professional tennis player.

Tzipora Obziler
Country (sports) Israel
ResidenceGivatayim, Israel
Born (1973-04-19) 19 April 1973 (age 51)
Givatayim
Height1.72 m (5 ft 7+12 in)
Turned proApril 1997
RetiredAugust 2009
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$595,265
Singles
Career record370–229 (61.8%)
Career titles0 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 75 (9 July 2007)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2004, 2005)
French Open2R (2007)
Wimbledon1R (2007, 2008)
US Open2R (2004)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2008)
Doubles
Career record151–111 (57.6%)
Career titles14 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 149 (10 April 2000)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2008)
French Open1R (2007)
Wimbledon1R (2007)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2008)

She reached her career-high singles world ranking of No. 75 in on 8 July 2007, and career-high doubles ranking of No. 149 on 10 April 2000.

Early and personal life edit

She was born in Givatayim, Israel, and is Jewish.[1]

Obziler speaks Hebrew and English.[2] After graduating from high school, she served two years in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF; the Israeli Army).[2] Obziler attended classes at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.[2]

She and her girlfriend Hadas have a daughter together.[3][4][5] Obziler took a break from professional tennis when the baby was born, and came back to play in 2008.

Tennis career edit

She won 14 singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.[2] 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.[2] In 1997, she won ITF tournaments in singles in Jaffa and Antalya. In 1998, she repeated in Jaffa. In 1999, she won in Guimaraes and Azemeis (both Portugal), and two tournaments in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2000, she won tournaments in Ashkelon and Beersheba in Israel.[2]

In 2002, she won in Mumbai, India, and Nonthaburi, Thailand. In November, she defeated world No. 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.[2]

In 2004, she played world No. 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.[2]

In 2006, she managed to get further than round two of a WTA Tour event in her first events of the year at Auckland and at Guangzhou in late September. At the Auckland Open, she reached the quarterfinals with two good wins over Jamea Jackson and the fifth-seeded world No. 27, Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, before falling to Daniela Hantuchová. In Guangzhou, she reached 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 fourth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues in three sets.[2]

Other than that, she qualified for the Australian Open and various WTA Tour events, she won an ITF title in Washington, D.C., and finally an ITF doubles title in Antalya-Manavgat partnering Romina Oprandi.[2]

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 30 September 2007, she reached her first final on the WTA Tour, in which she lost to Virginie Razzano at the Guangzhou International Women's Open.[2]

She represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, in both singles and (with Shahar Pe'er) doubles.[6]

On 13 August 2009, Obziler convened a press conference to announce her retirement from professional tennis.[7]

Federation Cup edit

Obziler was 48–30 in Federation Cup matches for the Israel Fed Cup team between 1994 and 2007, including wins in 12 of her most recent 13 matches.[8] 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 is second ever in the amount of ties played, at 61. She shares the record with compatriot Anna Smashnova.[9]

WTA career finals edit

Singles: 1 (runner-up) edit

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments
Tier I
Tier II
Tier III
Tier IV & V (0–1)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Sep 2007 Guangzhou International Open, China Hard   Virginie Razzano 0–6, 3–6

ITF Circuit finals edit

Singles (14–11) edit

$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 5 November 1990 Ashkelon, Israel Clay   Ilana Berger 1–6, 3–6
Loss 2. 14 September 1992 Haifa, Israel Hard   Yael Segal 3–6, 2–6
Loss 3. 29 August 1994 Haifa, Israel Hard   Hila Rosen 1–6, 5–7
Loss 4. 5 June 1995 Haifa, Israel Hard   Nelly Barkan 2–6, 2–6
Win 5. 24 February 1997 Jaffa, Israel Hard   Nóra Köves 7–5, 6–4
Win 6. 2 June 1997 Antalya, Turkey Hard   Gülberk Gültekin 6–0, 6–4
Loss 7. 17 November 1997 Jaffa, Israel Hard   Anna Smashnova 3–6, 2–6
Loss 8. 14 December 1997 Ismailia, Egypt Clay   Selima Sfar 7–5, 5–7, 4–6
Win 9. 16 March 1998 Jaffa, Israel Hard   Nadejda Ostrovskaya 6–3, 6–3
Loss 10. 1 June 1998 Tashkent, Uzbekistan Hard   Patricia Wartusch 3–6, 2–6
Win 11. 24 May 1999 Guimarães, Portugal Hard   Paula Hermida 6–0, 6–4
Win 12. 30 May 1999 Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal Hard   Raluca Ciochină 6–1, 6–1
Win 13. 21 June 1999 Istanbul, Turkey Hard   Daniela Cocos 6–0, 6–2
Loss 14. 26 July 1999 Edinburgh, United Kingdom Clay   Petra Mandula 0–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win 15. 8 August 1999 Istanbul, Turkey Hard   Nadejda Ostrovskaya 6–0, 7–5
Win 16. 30 October 2000 Ashkelon, Israel Hard   Tetiana Luzhanska 4–1, 1–3, 4–1, 4–1
Win 17. 20 November 2000 Beersheba, Israel Hard   Yevgenia Savransky 4–1, 4–0, 2–4, 4–0
Loss 18. 7 July 2002 Los Gatos, United States Hard   Ashley Harkleroad 2–6, 2–6
Win 19. 24 November 2002 Mumbai, India Hard   Adriana Barna 6–2, 6–2
Win 20. 1 December 2002 Nonthaburi, Thailand Hard   Ivana Abramović 6–4, 6–4
Loss 21. 6 April 2004 Dinan, France Clay (i)   Timea Bacsinszky 2–6, 1–6
Win 22. 30 May 2005 Ra'anana, Israel Hard   Margalita Chakhnashvili 6–0, 6–2
Loss 23. 5 December 2005 Ra'anana, Israel Hard   Margalita Chakhnashvili 3–6, 5–7
Win 24. 1 August 2006 Washington, United States Hard   Camille Pin 7–5, 2–5 ret.
Win 25. 17 March 2008 Tenerife, Spain Hard   Carla Suárez Navarro 6–2, 6–3

Doubles (14–13) edit

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 17 May 1993 Tortosa, Spain Clay   Limor Zaltz   Maria Inés Araiz
  María Fernanda Landa
6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Loss 2. 31 May 1993 Cáceres, Spain Hard   Limor Zaltz   Eleni Rossides
  Heidi Sprung
6–0, 2–6, 2–6
Loss 3. 9 August 1993 College Park,
United States
Hard   Limor Zaltz   Susan Gilchrist
  Vickie Paynter
2–6, 3–6
Loss 4. 22 August 1993 Haifa, Israel Hard   Nataly Cahana   Shiri Burstein
  Hila Rosen
0–6, 4–6
Loss 5. 29 August 1993 Haifa, Israel Hard   Nataly Cahana   Shiri Burstein
  Hila Rosen
5–7, 5–7
Loss 6. 10 October 1994 Burgdorf, Switzerland Carpet (i)   Ilana Berger   Lenka Cenková
  Adriana Gerši
6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Loss 7. 11 March 1996 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard   Limor Gabai   Shiri Burstein
  Hila Rosen
3–6, 6–7(2)
Loss 8. 20 April 1997 Bari, Italy Clay   Anna Smashnova   Sandra Načuk
  Dragana Zarić
4–6, 2–6
Loss 9. 17 November 1997 Jaffa, Israel Hard   Anna Smashnova   Nataly Cahana
  Maaike Koutstaal
2–6, 1–6
Loss 10. 3 May 1999 Beersheba, Israel Hard   Nataly Cahana   Nadejda Ostrovskaya
  Tatiana Poutchek
1–6, 4–6
Win 11. 24 May 1999 Guimarães, Portugal Hard   Kelly Liggan   Sabina da Ponte
  Giana Gutiérrez
6–3, 6–1
Win 12. 31 May 1999 Azeméis, Portugal Hard   Kelly Liggan   Mariana Mesa
  Jorgelina Torti
6–4, 4–6, 7–6(6)
Win 13. 19 July 1999 Dublin, Ireland Carpet   Surina De Beer   Hannah Collin
  Tina Hergold
7–5, 4–6, 6–2
Win 14. 1 November 1999 Jaffa, Israel Hard   Hila Rosen   Kristie Boogert
  Michelle Gerards
6–4, 1–6, 6–4
Loss 15. 14 February 2000 Midland, United States Hard (i)   Surina De Beer   Nannie de Villiers
  Rika Hiraki
1–6, 6–1, 1–6
Win 16. 27 March 2000 Norcross, United States Hard   Julia Abe   Jessica Steck
  Lindsay Lee-Waters
5–7, 7–6(7), 6–4
Win 17. 19 May 2002 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard   Hila Rosen   Lauren Breadmore
  Natalie Neri
4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win 18. 1 December 2002 Mumbai, India Hard   Katarina Mišić   Shelley Stephens
  Scarlett Werner
6–3, 4–6, 7–5
Win 19. 8 November 2004 Ramat HaSharon, Israel Hard   Danielle Steinberg   Pemra Özgen
  Gabriela Velasco Andreu
7–5, 6–3
Win 20. 21 November 2004 Deauville, France Clay   Virág Németh   Vanessa Henke
  Květa Peschke
6–4, 6–1
Win 21. 5 December 2004 Ra'anana, Israel Hard   Shahar Pe'er   Bahia Mouhtassine
  İpek Şenoğlu
6–3, 6–0
Win 22. 30 May 2005 Ra'anana, Israel Hard   Shahar Pe'er   Daniela Klemenschits
  Sandra Klemenschits
7–6(2), 1–6, 6–2
Win 23. 7 May 2006 Antalya, Turkey Clay   Romina Oprandi   Matea Mezak
  İpek Şenoğlu
4–6, 6–4, 6–0
Loss 24. 18 November 2006 Deauville, France Clay (i)   Silvia Disderi   Yuliya Beygelzimer
  Yuliana Fedak
5–7, 4–6
Win 25. 19 March 2007 Ra'anana, Israel Hard   Evgenia Linetskaya   Martina Babáková
  Veronica Spiegel
6–1, 6–2
Loss 26. 17 March 2008 Tenerife, Spain Hard   Mervana Jugić-Salkić   Julie Coin
  Violette Huck
4–6, 3–6
Win 27. 31 March 2008 Patras, Greece Clay   Anastasiya Yakimova   María José Martínez Sánchez
  Arantxa Parra Santonja
7–5, 6–1

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Jews in the Olympics: 63 Athletes, 7 Countries". Jewishinstlouis.org. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Tzipora Obziler | Player Stats & More – WTA Official". Women's Tennis Association.
  3. ^ "Tzipora Obziler".
  4. ^ "Tzipora Obziler cuelga la raqueta... pero la descolgará para jugar en Fed Cup - MARCA.com". www.marca.com.
  5. ^ "WTA News". Women's Tennis Association. 30 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Tzipora Obziler Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 18 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  7. ^ Hipsh, Rami (13 August 2009). "Tennis / Dudi Sela stumbles, Andy Ram advances, Obziler set to retire". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  8. ^ "Fed Cup - Player profile - Tzipi OBZILER (ISR)". Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  9. ^ https://www.billiejeankingcup.com/en/statistics/player-records.aspx

External links edit