Israeli player Shahar Peer has grown accustomed to the worlds of politics and tennis colliding on her court.
Going into her first-round match at the Australian Open on Wednesday she wasn't aware of media reports about protests planned against her. But she figured that's why all the TV cameras were there.
``I didn't know if there was protesting but I was guessing because I saw a lot of cameras coming to my court,'' said the No. 29-seeded Israel, who won her match against Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1.
As it turned out, the pro-Palestine groups that had announced plans to picket outside Melbourne Park never showed up and the only courtside chanting came from flag-waving Israeli supporters.
But organizers weren't taking any chances, especially after pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged three days of small but noisy protests against Peer earlier this month at the ASB tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
A half dozen protesters were arrested in Auckland and the entire stadium - players and spectators - was evacuated one day after an unattended bag was found and disposed of.
On Wednesday, at least six plainclothes security officers in dark suits - with wires dangling from their ears and talking into their sleeves - monitored Peer's match, which came on the first hot, sunny day of the season's first major. Her match was originally scheduled for Tuesday but delayed because of a backlog caused by rain Monday.
The group ``Australians for Palestine'' has pasted posters around Melbourne that show Peer, who did Israel's compulsory national service, in a military uniform while a picture of a distressed child from Gaza is superimposed on her racket, The Age newspaper reported Wednesday. The poster's slogan reads: ``Shahar Peer Serves for Israel.''
Next month, Peer will play for the first time at the Dubai Tennis Championships after the United Arab Emirates, under international pressure following its refusal to allow her entry in 2009, relented this year and gave her a visa.
Peer lamented the need for security in Melbourne but says she is not distracted by it and doesn't feel the need to take extra precautions.
``I know that there is security going on around me, and I don't know exactly how much but I really feel safe,'' she said. ``I'm just focusing on playing tennis. I'm not here to focus on my security or whatever's going on outside the court.''
After a close first set that Peer lost in a tiebreaker, she re-established her dominance in the second set and cruised through the third.
Hradecka, who had beaten Peer in straight sets in their only previous meeting, got so frustrated in the final game she whacked her racket against both shoes. The Czech handed Peer the last three points on errors, including the final service return into the net.
Peer has not passed the quarters in her four previous appearances at the Australian Open.
She is currently ranked No. 28, slipping from a career-high ranking of 15 in 2007, and has set herself a target of returning to the top 20. Her season so far is off to a good start: At her first two tournaments of the year, she reached the semifinals in Auckland and the final at Hobart.
Her schedule this year includes the addition of Dubai, which starts Feb. 15.
``I got (the visa) already,'' Peer said. ``I will go play this year's tournament.''
The United Arab Emirates rejected Peer's visa request last year, apparently because of anti-Israel sentiments in the Gulf state following a three-week war between Israel and Islamic militants in Gaza. The UAE does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
The tournament was fined $300,000 and told to meet certain requirements - one of them written confirmation about Peer, which it subsequently provided.
After Peer's ban last year, Israeli player Andy Ram received a visa to play the following week in the men's tournament. Andy Roddick, the 2008 champion in Dubai, skipped last year's event because of the Peer dispute, saying he ``didn't agree with what went on over there.''
Yuval Rotem, Israel's ambassador to Australia, attended Peer's match Wednesday, dividing his time between the stands and discussion with security patrolling the outdoor show court.
``It is very ridiculous,'' he said, adding that he was relieved protesters didn't turn up at the stadium but he takes threats against Israeli athletes seriously. ``For us, whenever they try to bring the involvement of political issues, it always brings the memories of the 1972 massacre of Israelis at the Olympics.''
Eleven Israeli Olympic team members were killed by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Games.
``We have to leave sport out of politics,'' he said.
