By Mike McIntyre
It was just over a year ago that I first took serious notice
of Shahar Peer. Unfortunately it was not due to her results on the tennis court
but rather for the uproar that was generated when she attempted to join the
playing field in the 2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. As the 45th
ranked in the world at the time, Peer should have been allowed to participate
in the tournament. Instead, her request for a visa into the United Arab Emirates
was denied, and tournament officials hid behind claims of security concerns to
justify their decision. The tournament proceeded despite Peer’s exclusion,
although the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour levied a fine of $300,000 on the tournament
and threatened to remove the event from the schedule in 2010 if Peer was not
allowed to compete.
Fast-forward one year and Peer’s first visit to Dubai turned out to be a
Cinderella story that captivated those both inside and outside of the tennis
world. Despite being up against some of the best players on the tour, the now
22nd ranked Peer put in one of the best showings of her young
career. Along the way to the semi-finals, she defeated 13th seeded
Yanina Wickmayer, 2009 finalist Virginie Razzano, top seeded Caroline Wozniacki
and 8th seeded Li Na before falling to eventual champion Venus
Williams, 6-1, 6-4.
In many ways Peer’s visit was groundbreaking and resulted in
success both on the court with her play and off it as well with her courage and
positive attitude. Many players would not have risked their safety by venturing
into such a situation. The Emirates do not allow Israeli’s into their country
and for that reason alone Peer’s conduct and bravery have been most admirable.
There were no incidents during her stay in Dubai and she spoke positively about the
experience.
Still, there were restrictions placed on her during her stay
that take away from the wonderful story this should be. Again using the crutch
of safety as their justification, tournament officials confined Peer to her own
separate locker room, made her play all of her matches on a remote outside
court, denied regular media access to her and even limited her stay in Dubai to
the tournament site or her hotel room.
Throughout it all however, Peer maintained a grounded and
upbeat attitude and looked upon the experience as a step in the right direction
both personally and professionally speaking. Two days after the women’s
tournament ended, I had the opportunity to interview Peer’s coach, Pablo
Giacopelli and delve further into the significance that this tournament has had
for them both and for the future of Shahar’s career.
Giacopelli began coaching Shahar Peer back in November of
2008. He had just finished coaching Kaia Kanepi where he helped her ranking go
from 80th to 25th in the world and attain the
quarter-finals of the French Open. Giacopelli heard that Peer was looking for a
coach and her manager Amit Naor heard that the coach was looking for a new
player. The rest as they say is history.
Here is the Q&A that followed between Pablo and I. It is an interesting glimpse into the professional
relationship between a player and coach as well as an in-depth look into their
recent trip to Dubai.
Pro Tennis Fan: What
are some areas of Shahar’s game that you have seen progress since you became
her coach and what areas still remain to improve upon?
Pablo Giacopelli: Her whole game has
changed. When we started working together Shahar was a counter puncher that
relied very much of the other person making mistakes and her taking
opportunities that were presented to her instead of her creating these
opportunities for herself. To change this is a very difficult thing to do as
you are essentially changing the very nature of the player and the way they
play the game. Still, I knew that this was the only way to move forward and for
her to turn her career around. We began working on her forehand and serve and
patterns of play that would bring order into her game.
These changes of course took longer than they should have done because of two
unexpected interruptions we had with the visa denial in Dubai last year and Shahar getting a stress
fracture on her right foot which took her out of the game for ten weeks. Once
we got the three months of solid tennis I knew we needed to have for her to
assimilate these changes then things began to come together. I think these
areas I have mentioned can still improve as she uses them and puts them into
practice over and over. Her physical fitness has also improved though I believe
she can still become stronger and quicker around the court.
Pro Tennis Fan: What do you think
her potential is?
Pablo Giacopelli: I believe that she
is definitely a top 15 player with potential to become a top 10 in time. I say
in time as I believe that breaking into the top ten takes time and perseverance
and it is through this time that you to build the necessary elements that will
then help you to stay within the top ten once you get there. Usually those that
burst with a bang into the top 10 also leave with a bang before they know it. (This
is) something that happened to Shahar in the past, though she only reached a
career high ranking of 15. We are working hard to help her grow as a player and
a person so that the same fall does not take place next time she reaches the
top.
Pro Tennis Fan: Did Shahar ever
think of staying away from the Dubai
event or was she always 100% interested in competing there?
Pablo Giacopelli: Not going to Dubai
was never an option especially after what had happened last year and the fact
that the tournament was made to guarantee her a visa and even a place in the
draw through a wild card if she did not gain direct entry into the event this
year in case her ranking was not high enough though this was not the case.
Pro Tennis Fan: Was there any
apprehension or fear on the part of Shahar, yourself or her father about going
to Dubai? Did
you feel safe throughout the event?
Pablo Giacopelli: I believe that
there was a concern from both sides as we unfortunately are indirectly part of
a bigger conflict that has been going on for centuries, which we have nothing
to do with or have contributed in any way towards making it happen. This
conflict of course brings with many ramifications for both sides and one of
those is the possible unfortunate event of falling prey to it. During our time
in Dubai we
felt safe and very well cared for by the people that were in charge of taking
care of us and our safety.
Pro Tennis Fan: Do you feel the
security measures taken were justified or were things blown out of proportion?
Pablo Giacopelli: This unfortunately
is something I cannot comment on as I was not aware of all that could have been
potentially been going on behind the scenes, especially after the assassination
of a top Hamas general on Dubai
soil. In other words, what I or we might have considered over the top might
have been justified by the possible threats the security people were aware of
that we were not.
Pro Tennis Fan: Did
you have any restrictions placed on you while in Dubai or were they just placed on Shahar?
Pablo Giacopelli: The only
restrictions I had placed upon me were to not discuss the security issues with
anyone, which I think was fair enough considering the situation and possible
risks at hand. The restrictions that Shahar had did not apply to me at all as I
am not Israeli and I was not staying with them.
Pro Tennis Fan: What did Shahar do
with so much free time at the hotel and how did she feel about being confined
there? Were you not allowed to stay at the same hotel?
Pablo Giacopelli: She only had a
considerable amount of free time after she lost in the doubles as she had been
playing up to that point two matches a day with the last matches finishing
around 6 pm or thereabouts. After that she spent her time on the internet at
the hotel and just reading and spending time with herself and dad who was
staying with her. I chose to stay in a different hotel though I could have
stayed with them. On a side note, I believe every situation in life presents
you with an opportunity, and without exception this one did just that as it
allowed Shahar time to think and focus on things that perhaps in the past she
had not been able to or aware of because of how she used her free time when she
had no restrictions on her movements.
Pro Tennis Fan: Is it true the press
was not allowed to ask her questions during the tournament?
Pablo Giacopelli: The press was
allowed to speak to her. The only thing that was different the first few days
we were there was that only one member of the press was allowed to come to the
place where she was whilst at the tournament and ask her all the questions and
then on his or her own return to the press room share out her answers to the
rest of the media and journalists. As the days went by more and more people
seemed to come to speak to her after her matches. I was of course available
without restriction and in fact spoke to various journalists every day.
Pro Tennis Fan: How much attention
has this story received back in Israel?
Pablo Giacopelli: The story has been
huge for two reasons. One the history it has and the history it was making and
two the huge run and success Shahar had whilst in Dubai. After returning (to Israel) it is
still getting much press as it was a truly historical breakthrough not just for
her tennis but also for an Israeli woman to play in a place like Dubai for the
first time.
Pro Tennis Fan: Shahar is a top-25
player, but her results in Dubai
and the quality of players she defeated were most impressive. To what do you
attribute her excellent play throughout the tournament? Was the adversity she
faced off the court partly responsible for her determined play on the court?
Pablo Giacopelli: I think it is
important to take notice of the fact that she is a climbing top 25 player and
not one that has been there for the last 2 years. In fact I believe after Dubai she should be once
again in the top 20. Her impressive run is a continuation of the momentum she
has been building up since the US Open last year. I believe that is the
evidence of all the work we have been doing. Of course these type of situations
tend to spark something inside Shahar, however, I don’t believe she would have
done this well, no matter how big the spark was, if her level of tennis was not
where is at today which as we saw was good enough to beat two top 10 players, a
top 15, and the last year’s runner-up in Dubai.
Pro Tennis Fan: How was she able to
maintain such a positive attitude about this entire experience? Did all of the
restrictions frustrate her to a certain degree?
Pablo Giacopelli: Well we prepared
ourselves before going there mentally as we knew that it would be a completely
different experience to what we were normally used to. I obviously went out of
my way to reassure her and encourage her at all times that she was there to
play and to show the tennis world what she was made of. We focused on one thing
at a time each day and one challenge at a time. We did not focus on what was
going on around us believe it or not and as difficult as that was at times. I
think the only frustration she had was that she could not see the beautiful
place Dubai is or go up to the top of the tallest building in the world.
Pro Tennis Fan: Do you
think Shahar will play this event in the future even if all of the extreme
security measures are taken again?
Pablo Giacopelli: I think we need to
focus on the now and live and enjoy the moment. I see no reason why Shahar
would not return to this event next year, however having said that I think
that’s a question to be answered nearer the time.
My thanks go out to Pablo for taking the time to speak with us and share his story with Pro Tennis Fan. I would also like to acknowledge the ITUSA Tennis Academy where Pablo is based for their assistance.