**Venus Williams beat Israeli Shahar Peer amid tight security to reach the final of the Dubai Championships.**The American won 6-1 6-4 in the low-key surroundings of Court Two as officials looked to contain security concerns.
Peer is the first Israeli woman to compete in the United Arab Emirates after being denied a visa last year.
Her surprise run to the semis this year has come amid the political fall-out from last month’s assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai.
The police chief in Dubai has said he is 99% sure of Israeli involvement.
With this political background, Peer has played all her matches this week on limited-access outside courts and spectators have had to pass through metal detectors, while press photographers were kept from their courtside positions.
And the 22-year-old’s semi-final against the defending champion was also kept away from the 5,000-capacity Centre Court.
Last year, the Dubai tournament was fined a record US$300,000 (£207,000) and threatened with removal from the women’s tennis calendar after Peer was refused entry to the UAE.
Tournament officials had said they feared a threat to the player’s safety because of public opinion on the Gaza conflict.
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska will play Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the second semi-final, which takes place on Centre Court.