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London. The United Arab Emirates provided written confirmation to the WTA that it would allow Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer to play at a tournament in Dubai next month.

Peer was denied entry into the UAE 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 tour has received written confirmation from the UAE Ministry of Interior that she will be able to enter and participate in the event without incident,” WTA spokeswoman Katie Scott said on Wednesday.

The Dubai Tennis Championships starts on Feb. 15.

Last year, the tournament was fined $300,000 for denying the visa and was made to promise to meet other requirements.

The government of the UAE could not immediately be reached for comment, but tournament spokesman Ben Nichols said organizers “have received written confirmation from the UAE authorities that all WTA and ATP participants, without any exception, are welcome to play.”

After the UAE’s refusal last year to allow Peer to enter the country, Israeli player Andy Ram was given a visa to play the following week at the men’s tournament in Dubai. But Andy Roddick, the 2008 champion in Dubai, skipped the 2009 tournament because of the incident involving Peer, saying he “didn’t agree with what went on over there.”

The 30th-ranked Peer ignored a third day of protests from pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Thursday to beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 and reach the semifinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Police arrested one person outside the stadium on Wednesday and five people were arrested on Thursday while protesting the presence of Peer.

The demonstrators, from the New Zealand group Global Peace and Justice, said they were protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and had called on Peer to withdraw from the tournament.

On Wednesday, Peer told journalists that she accepted the right of the group to protest but felt unfairly targeted.

“I also want peace and the world to be more quiet, but I don’t think there is a place for these protests,” she said.

“It’s not my fault and I think my country is fine. I don’t want to go into politics, but I don’t think these guys know what they are shouting.”

Her semifinal opponent on Friday will be third-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, who has made a strong return to the WTA Tour after her ban for antidoping violations was lifted last month.

Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy played strongly behind a dominant serve to beat Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2. Pennetta broke Cibulkova three times in the first set and twice in the second.

Pennetta’s semifinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who beat Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-3.

Wickmayer also used a dominant serve to beat Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 6-2, 6-2. Krumm, 39, who returned to tennis in 2008 after a 12-year retirement, struggled to cope with the power of her younger opponent.

Tennis

Associated Press