By: Grace Wang
Coming from a relatively unknown country with few tennis prospects, Anett Kontaveit never imagined great success. However, she proved all wrong as she reached unimaginable heights in a career that spanned for 13 years.
As a junior, she showed great potential week in and week out with consistent results on the junior circuit, including winning the 2011 Orange Bowl and reaching the 2012 Junior Girl’s US Open Final. For the first few years of her professional career, Kontaveit didn’t have a large breakthrough; she was a consistent force on the ITF Tour but lacked true success on the main tour. However, as a 19 year old, she made her breakthrough at the 2015 US Open. Having to qualify for the main draw, Kontaveit then won three straight main draw matches to reach the fourth round of the US Open where she lost to tennis icon, Venus Williams. This result propelled her into the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time.
Kontaveit was unable to replicate her strong results in 2016, but 2017 flipped the switch. Kontaveit began to defeat top 10 players, such as Angelique Kerber, who was the world number one at the time, and Garbine Muguruza. Following a successful clay season, Kontaveit won her first WTA title on the grass courts of the Netherlands at the Ricoh Open. For the rest of the year, she continued to have consistent results and made finals which led to a ranking inside the top 30.
For the next few years, she continued to slowly rise up the rankings through consistent results week in and week out, but once again, didn’t have a breakthrough. She reached many finals, but could never capitalize on her opportunities to secure the bigger trophy. In 2019, she reached a ranking of world number 14, becoming the highest ranked Estonian man or woman in tennis history as she surpassed Kaia Kanepi’s previous record of world number 15. She also reached the 2020 Australian Open quarterfinals, which would be her best grand slam appearance. Kontaveit became a mainstay in the top 30 from 2018-2021 and her name was recognized as a huge threat to any top player in any draw, but she rarely was able to pull off the upset. However, this all changed in 2021.
After a demoralizing five match losing streak which stretched from June to August and parting ways with long time coach, Nigel Sears, Kontaveit went on a tear for the last stretch of the year. She picked up titles in Cleveland, Ostrava, Moscow, and Romania and went on a 12 match win streak in the process. Kontaveit absolutely dominated her opponents with sheer aggression and force and as a result of this superb playing, Kontaveit found herself as a Top 10 player. She ended the year by qualifying for the WTA Finals and finishing runner up. Her win to loss record that year was 48-17 and ended the year ranked No.7.
Kontaveit carried her strong form from 2021 into early 2022 where she picked up a title in St.Petersburg and a final in Doha, but after catching long Covid, her season was completely derailed. Despite early exits in almost every tournament she entered, she still reached a career high ranking of World No.2. She continued to make finals, but was unable to win them. Another important moment of 2022 was the match Serena Williams in her last ever professional appearance in front of a rowdy American crowd. Kontaveit lost the match in three tough sets and ultimately became Serena Williams’ last win. At the end of the season, Kontaveit picked up a back injury and little did she know that it would completely change the course of her career.
2023 wasn’t a good year, result wise. She could barely pick up wins and was losing to players ranked much lower than her; as a result, she fell out of the top 70 and was approaching a ranking of triple digits. But then, she dropped a bombshell. On June 20th, 2023, Kontaveit announced her retirement from professional tennis because the back injury she had picked up couldn’t allow her to play at such a high level competitively anymore. Her last professional appearance was the 2023 Wimbledon Championships where she lost in the second round, culminating a 13 year long career with success she had never dreamed of.
Kontaveit looks back at the crowd one last time following her final professional appearance.
Image: wtatennis.com
Life after tennis has treated Kontaveit well; after an exhibition match against good friend, Ons Jabeur, in front of a sold out Estonian crowd, Kontaveit has traveled to many new places and recently gave birth to her first son in mid September. In addition, a book about her will be published in November and a documentary about her life has already been released in movie theaters in Estonia.
Although Kontaveit came from a small country, she was able to climb to the top of tennis and become the best Estonian player in tennis history. Her legacy will live on and her impact on bringing the Estonian flag to tennis will not be forgotten.
