Tzipora "Tzipi" Obziler ( he, ציפורה אובזילר; born 19 April 1973) is a former Israeli professional

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

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. In

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

she is a shared world record holder for most ties played, at 61.

Early and personal life

She was born in

Givatayim Givatayim ( he, גִּבְעָתַיִים, lit. "two hills") is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. In it had a population ...

, Israel, and is Jewish. Obziler speaks Hebrew and English. After graduating from high school, she served two years in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF; the Israeli Army). Obziler attended classes at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

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

Tennis career

She won 13 singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF circuit. 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. In 1997 she won ITF tournaments in singles in

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

and

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

. In 1998 she repeated in Jaffa. In 1999 she won in Guimaraes, Portugal, and Azemeis, Portugal, and two tournaments in

Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. In 2000, she won tournaments in

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...

and

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

in Israel. In 2002, she won in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India, and Nonthaburi, Thailand. In November she defeated world # 62

Emmanuelle Gagliardi Emmanuelle Gagliardi (born 9 July 1976) is a retired Swiss tennis player. She was coached by Marco Tarelli and her preferred surface was hardcourt. Gagliardi never won a WTA Tour singles title, but reached the semifinals of the 2002 Indian Wel ...

of Switzerland in France. In 2003 in India she had an upset win over world No. 36

Elena Likhovtseva Elena Alexandrovna Likhovtseva (russian: Елена Александровна Лиховцева ; born 8 September 1975) is a Kazakhstani-born Russian former tennis player. She turned professional in January 1992, at the age of 16. Together ...

of Russia in straight sets. In 2004, she played world # 1

Justine Henin-Hardenne Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in tenni ...

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 Shahar Pe'er ( he, שחר פאר, ; born ) is an Israeli retired tennis player. Pe'er won five singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career. She reached ...

) titles in Raanana, Israel. She also upset world No. 47

Émilie Loit Émilie Loit (; born 9 June 1979) is a retired tennis player from France. Besides her three career singles titles, all on clay, included Estoril and Casablanca both in 2004, and Acapulco in 2007, she won 16 doubles titles on the WTA Tour Th ...

of France in the Australian Open in two sets. In 2006, she managed to get further than the 2nd-round of a WTA event in her first event of the year at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and at

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

in late September. In

, she reached the quarterfinals with two good wins over

Jamea Jackson Jamea Jackson ( ; born September 7, 1986) is an American former Women's Tennis Association (WTA) player and current United States Tennis Association (USTA) coach. She reached a singles ranking of 45 in the world at the end of 2006. Jackson was b ...

and the 5th-seeded world No. 27

Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, before falling to

Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Mar ...

. In

, she reached the semifinals of the tournament, along the way defeating world No. 51

Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon Cha ...

of Russia and world No. 20

Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...

of China, before falling to the 4th-seeded

Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...

in three sets. Other than that, she qualified for the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

and various WTA tour events, she won an ITF title in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, and finally an ITF doubles title in Antalya-Manavgat partnering

Romina Oprandi Romina Sarina Oprandi (born 29 March 1986) is a retired tennis player. She has dual Swiss-Italian citizenship and represented Italy from her professional debut in 2005 until January 2012, when she joined the Swiss tennis federation. She has w ...

. In 2007, she beat 56th-ranked

Aiko Nakamura (born 28 December 1983), is a Japanese former professional tennis player. In July 2008, she was the second highest WTA-ranked Japanese singles tennis player, at No. 107, after Ai Sugiyama. Nakamura was born in Tennōji-ku, Osaka. Like her ...

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 Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...

of Denmark. On 30 September 2007, she reached her first final on the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

, in which she lost to

Virginie Razzano Virginie Razzano (born 12 May 1983) is a former French professional tennis player. She won two WTA Tour singles titles, both of them in 2007. Razzano reached her career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 16 on 14 September 2009. She represe ...

at the

Guangzhou International Women's Open The Guangzhou International Women's Open is a tennis tournament held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. Held since 2004, the inaugural tournament had Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. ...

. She represented

Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. This was Israel's fourteenth participation in the Summer Olympics. Israel sent 43 athletes to compete in Beijing, the largest Israeli delegation in Olympic history, with the previous ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China, in both singles and (with

) doubles. On 13 August 2009, Obziler convened a press conference to announce her retirement from professional tennis.

Federation Cup

Obziler was 48–30 in

matches for the

Israel Fed Cup team The Israel women's national tennis team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בגביע הפדרציה) is the representative national team of Israel in Fed Cup competition. In the 2007 Fed Cup, they qualified from the World Group II and World Group Pla ...

between 1994 and 2007, including wins in 12 of her most recent 13 matches. 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 currently holds the world record for most Federation Cup Ties Played, at 61. She shares the record with compatriot

Anna Smashnova Anna Smashnova ( he, אנה סמשנובה, russian: Анна Смашнова; born July 16, 1976) is a Soviet-born Israeli former tennis player. She retired from professional tour after Wimbledon 2007. Smashnova reached her career-high singles ...

WTA career finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

ITF Finals

Singles (14–11)

Doubles (14–13)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obziler, Tzipora 1973 births LGBT Jews LGBT sportspeople from Israel Living people Jewish tennis players Israeli female tennis players People from Givatayim Olympic tennis players of Israel Old Dominion University alumni Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Israeli Jews LGBT tennis players Ono Academic College alumni