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ROGERS CUP PRESENTED BY AMERICAN EXPRESS

August 13, 2007

Shahar Peer

TORONTO, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First question is a very obvious one. After you were behind Love-40, you obviously raised the level of your game. What happened in the first four games, and what did you do to change the pace of the match?
SHAHAR PEER: I think I was just not playing. It's not that she was playing that good, and probably she was feeling the same. It's just that I made so many mistakes I didn't get to the ball properly, and I mean, I was just not in the match.
But slowly, slowly, I started to move better, and to step into the ball and hit the balls. And Micha she's a good player. She has a huge serve. Few times she double fault, but she takes advantage in the most important points with her serve.
And it was a tough one, and I didn't play her for so many years, but it was a tough first round for me.

Q. What about the expectations from the tournament, next round, playing Garbin, probably?
SHAHAR PEER: I play Garbin, probably? I don't know. She still has to play, I think.

Q. Yeah, she's playing the quarterfinals?
SHAHAR PEER: Yeah, but every match is a match, and I mean, Laura, she, probably she would be in the middle if her ranking was better before. She's a good player, and you never know who is going to win, and I'll be ready for whoever is coming.

Q. Congratulations also for leading Israel for the first time in Fed Cup to, I believe, a ranking of 8. And if I'm correct, I believe for you it is a personal best. You've gone undefeated play for now two years. In Canada, as you know, you beat the home country here. Last year Montreal you were a quarterfinalist.
So I just want to know when you seem to go on the road, especially in Canada, is there anything about the atmosphere here in Canada that you seem to do well? You even won a junior tournament in Quebec when you were under 18 as I recall?
SHAHAR PEER: I hope there is something going here. But about the Fed Cup, we were going against Austria, and Austria also qualified to the top 8. But yeah, I was playing good last year in Montreal, and I did win the juniors in Repentigny, and I hope to do well here. So if there is something here, I hope it will help me.

Q. The other thing I wanted to know, you're now in your third year, if I'm correct, as a full-time pro. Last year when you were in Montreal, you had your career high at 15.
SHAHAR PEER: No.

Q. No? Okay, forgive me about that. But at the time, it was your best result for a Tier 1 until you finished as a semifinalist in Miami in March.
What I wanted to know is that now that you're in a position that you have to defend a lot of points, is there a lot more pressure on you? Because since the US Open Series started, you haven't really done as well as some people expected and I just wanted to know?
SHAHAR PEER: Yeah, but last year, I didn't have any points during the US Open Series to defend. And it's not that I had last year and this year I was losing all my points, I didn't have anything.
You know, I'm a good player, and I have to play good every year, and every year each of us has to defend. And if you think about this way, so you're never going to be good, and I don't think it's the right attitude to think, Oh, I have to defend, I have to defend.
I just go on the court and play my best, and try to win every match. I cannot think about defending. Of course, I didn't have the last three weeks good tournaments, but every time was really close, so I'm happy I won here the first really tough round, and I have to keep on from here.

Q. Little bit about history. I know a lot of people have asked you about this, so many years ago Hadad played with Qureshi, they won the Humanitarian Award because an Israeli played with a Muslim. Now that you're playing most of the time, not this week, but with Mirza. I wondered if a lot of people asked you about it, if in Israel there is big news about that?
SHAHAR PEER: A lot of press ask us, a lot, a lot of it. But in Israel it's not a big deal. They did publish it and everything. But we were playing before, and now we're playing again. We enjoy to be together on court. We are good friends, and we just don't want to think about all this politics. We just like to play together.

Q. Will you be playing US Open doubles with Sania Mirza?
SHAHAR PEER: Actually, no, I was planning to go play with Tatiana Garbin before here and in US Open. I hope for next year or the end of this year we'll play more together.

End of FastScripts

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