By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Anett Kontaveit extended her farewell to tennis scoring a 6-4, 6-4 Wimbledon win then explained why SW19 is her last tournament.
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty
Parting can be painful.
Anett Kontaveit is preparing for an emotional end to her career at Wimbledon this week because playing is simply too painful for her cranky back.
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Kontaveit conquered Italian qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4, 6-4 in her Wimbledon opener, extending her tennis career by at least one more match.
"It definitely is emotional, and yeah, it feels a little different," Kontaveit said. "But really excited that I get to play a few more matches here hopefully, and just do my best every time I walk on the court, and that's what I have been doing my whole career. Really want to do that for the one last time."
Last month, the 27-year-old Estonian announced her plan to retire from pro tennis after Wimbledon due to a back injury that prevents her from training.
A popular presence among her peers on the WTA Tour, Kontaveit has received several supportive messages from fellow players.
Daria Kasatkina called Kontaveit's retirement "super sad" given her best tennis may well have been ahead of her.
"Honestly, for me it was a surprise. Yeah, I feel really sad about it, because Anett is one of my, like, big friends on tour," Kasatkina told the media after sweeping Jodi Burrage in straight sets. "Knowing that she's going to finish quite early, considering the age, she's gonna finish quite early, it's, I would say, breaking my heart. I was really disappointed with that.
"But I understand that health always come first. If she just, I mean, if she feels that she cannot push more, of course she, for sure, was a very tough decision for her. It's very sad when the career is ending like that, because of the something, because the person, you know, got enough, but just because of health, health is not allowing you to do that.
Kontaveit captured six career WTA titles and ascended to a career-high rank of No. 2 on June 6th, 2022.
While she's touched by the support she's received from players and fans, Kontaveit says her chronic back injury means she cannot play pain free anymore. In fact, Kontaveit shared she took a painkiller to get through today's first-round match without discomfort.
"I mean, it's really sweet that they're trying," Kontaveit said with a smile. "A lot of people tried, I think.
"But, I mean, these decisions, because I cannot play without pain pretty much the whole match, so it was something that of course I considered for a very long time. But it was a very difficult decision, and once I decide something big like this, I don't usually start doubting it." Aiming to make this final farewell a long good-bye, Kontaveit will play 32nd-seeded Marie Bouzkova in round two.
When she's struck her final ball, Kontaveit will continue pursuing higher education. She's been studying psychology and plans to pursue a degree.
"I think it's helped me get to know myself a little bit better, but I don't think it's made some huge, drastic changes," Kontaveit said. "But yeah, I really enjoy studying and I really am very interested in psychology so hopefully in the future as I learn more and more about it, it's going to help me more and more."