Why is Anett Kontaveit retiring at age 27? Former No.2 tennis start forced to end her career
It’s incredible to think that having sat among the elites of the game and at such a young age, the Estonian’s career is now set to come to an abrupt end.
In circumstances that can only be considered heartbreaking for her and her country, the highest-ranking woman in Estonian women’s tennis history has now been forced to call time on her career due to a condition that has made it impossible for her to carry on.
Anett Kontaveit retires from professional tennis
It’s Hard to believe that it’s been just one year since she made history in Estonia by securing the ranking of World No. 2. Harder still is the fact Anett Kontaveit has now announced that she will leave the professional game for good. Indeed, the 27-year-old announced on Instagram on Tuesday that she has been diagnosed with “lumbar disc degeneration,” a disease in which the cartilage supporting the spine deteriorates and causes back pain. Though the condition is typically associated with an older age, it can also be caused by repeated strain. Kontaveit herself noted that her situation “does not allow for full-scale training or continued competition.”
A look back at Anett Kontaveit
Tennis fans will recall that it was back in 2010 when Kontaveit first broke onto the scene as a teenager. Indeed, just a year later in 2011, she would put in an inspired performance at Roland Garros confirming her status as an up-and-coming star of the game. What followed was a series of wins on both the Junior Tour and the ITF such that by 2014 she was ready to take the step into the big leagues. Her first outing was in 2014 when she qualified for her first-ever WTA Tour tournament, the Auckland Open. Though she would lose to Sachie Ishizu in the opening round, it was clear that we had a talent on our hands. Incidentally, she would also qualify for Wimbledon in that same year but was again met with a first-round exit.
Her first Grand Slam breakthrough came in 2015 when she qualified for US Open. Starting as an unseeded player in qualifying, she would go on to defeat Stephanie Vogt, María Teresa Torró Flor, and Naomi Broady to qualify for the main draw. Once there, she bested Casey Dellacqua, then-31st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Madison Brengle to clinch a spot in the fourth round, however, her journey was brought to an end by the then-23rd seed Venus Williams in straight sets. Nonetheless, her efforts in New York allowed her to get into the top 100 for the first time in her career, moving up more than 60 places. Ultimately, Kontaveit would go on to win a total of six singles titles on the WTA Tour as well as eleven singles and five doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, something that she acknowledged was more than she ever imagined she would. “I never thought until I was, I mean, maybe after playing juniors or something, I thought that maybe there’s a chance that I would get even to the top 100 in the women’s game,” she said at the time. “So I never thought that it was possible to get this high from a small country. ...It wasn’t like I knew that I was gonna be a top player,” Kontaveit added. “I never had that.”
Estonia will forever be proud of Anett Kontaveit
As mentioned before, Kontaveit became the highest-ranked tennis player ever from her country - man or woman - with her No. 2 ranking in 2022 and, the year prior, was the first Estonian to play in the WTA Finals. To that end, her place in hearts of the people of her country is secure, and indeed, so too is their place in hers. Speaking of the pride she felt in representing her nation, Kontaveit didn’t hide the idea that being able “to bring the Estonian flag to the tennis courts” is something that will stay with her for all time.