Tzipora Obziler

Tzipora Obziler
Native nameציפורה אובזילר
Country (sports) Israel
ResidenceGivatayim, Israel
Born (1973-04-19) 19 April 1973
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
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
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)

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

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

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

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

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

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

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

Singles (14–11)

$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)

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

References

  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". Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  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. ^ "Billie Jean King Cup- Statistics". Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2025.