Tennis: Russia, Israel tied at Fed Cup after Peer wins, Obziler loses

The first part of the job has been successfully completed: Israel and Russia are tied 1-1 after the first day of their Fed Cup World Group quarterfinal at Ramat Hasharon.

After dropping the first set to Dinara Safina, Shahar Peer went on to win 0-6, 6-2, 6-2. Tzipi Obziler also lost her first set 6-0, to Maria Sharapova. She made it a little more difficult for the world No. 5 and Australian Open women's singles champion in the second set, but Sharapova still evened the five-match tie with a 6-0, 6-4 victory.

The realistic goal is to get to the fifth match, the doubles; 1-1 was the best possible result from the first day. Sunday, Israel needs another win in the singles. But in the doubles, with the crowd, yihiye b'seder (it will be okay).

All four tennis players met the Israeli squad's expectations: Peer wrapped up a victory and provided a reminder of her ability, Safina picked up a loss and gave a reminder of her tendency to fall apart, Sharapova proved that she is merely human at times, and Obziler that she knows good tennis. The Israeli team had the heart, the Russians laughed when the crowd imitated Sharapova. Not a bad deal.

Peer, in her first true test at home, stood at a crossroads that was characterized by the public discussion around her: Is she a winner-winner or a winner-loser? The last few months have been bad, the pressure has been great and the first set ended with a zero on her side of the scoresheet. If she had lost the second set, even in a tiebreaker, not only would this weekend's tie have been all but over, but her career would also have been in big trouble. Let's get out of that right now.

Like a star, she did get out of it. In the sixth game, Peer had a breakthrough. Captain Oded Jacob said afterward that at the previous break, Peer told him that she was already feeling rejuvenated. Maybe she internalized the thousands of adoring fans, no matter the result, and 5,000 evaluating fans became 5,000 assisting fans. Suddenly, her legs looked light, and so did her head. During this game, which she also lost, the shadow passed from Shahar's soul.

From that point on, she stopped being terrified and began to hit her shots with complete focus. Good old Shahar. On the other side, Safina (a mirror image of her brother, Marat Safin) disintegrated. The Russian journalists call this "bowing out." It is a familiar occurrence with her. It has already happened against Peer, and that is the reason this tennis horse is not really at the top. The pressure on her weighs about as much as her brother (who is said to have pushed her to play the game). The brother, the conditions, Peer - everything brought Safina to a slight nervous breakdown, which also led to an argument with the captain. The Israeli plan, to devote its energy to breaking the weakest link in the Russian chain, worked better than expected. Even if the post-traumatic Chakvetadze replaces Safina for Sunday's singles match against Tzipi Obziler, and also if she does not.

Sharapova is a person desperate for love. Since she was seven years old, she has been trained to fulfill her father's dream, but like everyone else, she also seeks unconditional affection. We saw that in Australia, and we also saw that in the press conference here. She tries to be nice, but she has no idea how. Yesterday, she showed sympathy for the crowd's crazy behavior. Maybe it is because every situation is truly different and exciting for her, or maybe she does not want to hate herself even more.

But the match against Obziler taught us something else. Holy Mary is not an iron virgin. To a certain extent, it is a shame that Obziler gave her a fight in the last third of their match. Otherwise, the whack of the crowd could have struck her this morning like a hammer to the head.