Kontaveit to Retire After Wimbledon

Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who reached her career-high ranking of world number two last year, has announced that she will retire at the age of 27 due to a back injury and will participate in next month’s Wimbledon tennis tournament. Kontaveit shortened her 2022 season in October and took an additional two-month break in February to focus on her injury. She wrote on her Instagram account on Tuesday: "After numerous visits and consultations with my medical team, they informed me that I have a lower back problem." She added, "This does not allow for extensive training or continuous competition, making it impossible to continue at the highest level in such a competitive field." Kontaveit confirmed her readiness to face "new challenges after my recent efforts as a professional player – to enjoy the game and compete to the best of my ability at Wimbledon." Currently ranked 79th in the world, Kontaveit exited the second round at the Australian Open and has not played since her first-round defeat at the French Open last May. Her best result in Grand Slam tournaments so far was reaching the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park in 2020. Kontaveit has won four titles and reached the final of the WTA Finals in 2021, and she held the world number two ranking in September after losing to Serena Williams in the second round of the US Open.