Anett Kontaveit welcomes first child, son LeonThe former world No.
After retiring from her second-round match in Abu Dhabi against Shelby Rogers in February, she took two months off in an attempt to recover. Kontaveit’s struggles continued on her return during the clay season and she lost in straight sets in the first round of the French Open to Bernarda Pera. Her win-loss record is 3-7 in 2023 and after being the second-best player in the world last summer, she is now No 79.
Alongside her fierce competitiveness, Kontaveit was a popular figure among her fellow pros on the WTA Tour for her sportsmanship and friendliness off court. “I will miss this lovely lady,” .
Former Estonian number one tennis player Anett Kontaveit, who retired from the sport prematurely last year due to injury, said she is very proud of what she managed to achieve in her career.
Anett Kontaveit saab 29-aastaseks jõululaupäeval, 24. detsembril.
"Ever since I was a child, it's always been about making sacrifices. The competition is huge in tennis – it's the most popular women's sport in the world according to some statistics. There are so many people who want to be there, and in order to get there, you have to work harder than others or you have to be something special," Kontaveit told ERR.
After enjoying the greatest moments of her career 18 months ago and positioning herself to achieve even more, the end has come quickly. Kontaveit’s back began to give her significant problems in October and she struggled in the final weeks of the season.
Kontaveit, who won six WTA titles, reached a career high of number two in the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) rankings in early June 2022. "It's perhaps difficult to answer the question of what being world number two means to me now, because I finished my career so recently that I haven't had time to look back on everything that happened. I think in four or five months or after half a year, I will be able to articulate and define it a little better. But I think it's just an achievement that I never thought could happen in my career. My goal was always to reach the top ten. And the fact that I achieved that goal so well is definitely something to be really proud of, and when you think about it, all the sacrifices that had to be made seem so self-evident," said Kontaveit.
At the US Open, Kontaveit opened the tournament with a win against Sorribes Tormo. She defeated Ajla Tomljanović in the second round but withdrew from her third-round match against 13th seed Belinda Bencic with a viral illness.
Anett Kontaveit päätti uransa Wimbledonissa.
Kontaveit reached a career high ranking of No 2 after Wimbledon last year, where she remained until she in the second round of the US Open, the final victory of Williams’s career. Kontaveit is the highest-ranked player from Estonia, a country of 1.3 million people.
Kontaveit took to Instagram to announce her retirement.
Kontaveit began the season at the defeating Hsieh Su-wei but losing to sixth seed Kiki Bertens in three sets. At , she lost to Pavlyuchenkova in the first round, in straight sets. As the 28th seed at the , she defeated and Sorribes Tormo and then crushed Belinda Bencic, losing only one game, to reach the fourth round for the second time in her career. She then defeated Iga Świątek in three sets to give Kontaveit a place in the quarterfinals where she lost to Simona Halep. However, with her win in the fourth round against Iga Świątek, she became the first Estonian, male or female, to reach a quarterfinal at the Australian Open, and with this tournament's result she moved up nine places in the WTA rankings to 22. She next went to where she made the quarterfinals but lost to Petra Martić.
Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in action.
At her first clay-court event of the season, she was seeded eighth; at the , she defeated in two sets to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a rematch of last years quarterfinal. She defeated her in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals for the third year in a row and face Victoria Azarenka, who retired in the third set. This meant, she reached the semifinals for the second year running and was due to face world No. 1, Naomi Osaka. However, Osaka withdrew with an abdominal injury handing Kontaveit a walkover to the final to face Petra Kvitová. She lost the final in two sets.
Image Courtesy: Kontaveit’s official IG profile
Kontaveit returned to the tour at , the first WTA tournament during the coronavirus pandemic. She was seeded fourth and defeated in her first match . In the second round, she defeated in three sets to face in the quarterfinals. She also beat the Italian wildcard in three sets to reach her first semifinal of the season against top seed . She defeated the Croatian in two sets to advance to her first final of the season. There, she was defeated by Frenchwoman in two sets despite serving for the second set. Nevertheless, the run to the final saw Kontaveit return to the top 20.
Image Courtesy: Kontaveit’s official IG profile
She then played at the , where she defeated Caroline Garcia, in straight sets, in the first round, before falling to in the second. At the French Open, Kontaveit again faced Garcia in the first round. Unfortunately, Garcia managed to clinch her revenge against the 17th seed, who suffered a disappointing loss in three sets, culminating the season. Her final event of the season was the Ostrava Open where she defeated in three sets before losing to Sara Sorribes Tormo, in straight sets.