Anett Kontaveit: The Girl Who Couldn't Lose - Issue #18

Anett Kontaveit transformed her career and rose to world #2 after years of hovering around the top 20. Where does she go from here?

Written by Dove Sallow

Anett Kontaveit was on absolutely everyone’s radar last year. The Estonian had been a very solid competitor since she emerged on the tour, but her ranking seemed to hover around the top 20 for most of her career. She had all the makings of a top 10 player and maybe even a Grand Slam champion, but her success had stifled. It was both confusing and frustrating to watch. When the end of 2021 came and Anett captured 4 titles in 4 months, it was obvious something had clicked. From coaching changes to tactical adjustments, we’re taking a look at what Anett Kontaveit did to reach the next level in her career.

The most notable shift in Kontaveit’s form came after she added Dmitry Tursunov as her coach. I’ll be the first to say that I believe this was a perfect coaching partnership. Often times, you can stick a talented player with a fantastic coach and things don’t fall into place. Like any relationship, there needs to be communication and trust. There also must be a mutual understanding of what needs to change in the players’ game and what does not. Just based off of their interactions during matches and tournaments, it was evident that they had a connection. He provided a great support system and was able to steady her when things weren’t going her way in matches. Famous for his work with the big-hitting Belarusian, Aryna Sabalenka, Tursunov made Anett realize that her game could be a lot more powerful. He worked with her on getting more mph on her serve and taught her quick combinations to get the most out of her powerful groundstrokes. Where she was more consistent and patient before, Kontaveit started to bulldoze her way through opponents. She began ripping winners off of first serve returns, taking the ball much earlier, and became unafraid to go for broke. It was a known fact that Anett had one of the best backhands on tour, but she was now a complete player with major weapons. And with a new coach at her side, a player who once struggled to win big matches became a force that couldn’t lose. When facing break points and match points on her own second serve, Kontaveit was able to come up with aces to get herself out of trouble. Her mindset had changed entirely. Matches would be decided on her racquet - win or lose.

With new weapons and a newfound confidence, Anett began to tear through everyone she faced. Over the course of 4 months, she won titles in Cleveland, Ostrava, Moscow, and Cluj Napoca to rack up enough points to qualify for the Year End Championships for the first time in her career. In those events, she defeated Paula Badosa, Belinda Bencic, Petra Kvitova, Maria Sakkari, Marketa Vondrousova, Garbiñe Muguruza, and Simona Halep without dropping a single set. Winning 26 of 28 matches, Kontaveit was the hottest player on tour and the woman nobody wanted to face. With a record that spoke for itself, the Estonian qualified for the 2021 Year End Championships and became the first player from her country to ever do so. She went on to reach the Final of the YEC, where she fell to Garbiñe Muguruza. Winning 29 out of 33 matches from August to November, Anett finished one of the most spectacular year-end seasons we’ve ever seen with a career-high ranking of number 7 in the world. No one could say she didn’t earn it.

Anett started the 2022 season off almost as impressively as she ended the previous one. She reached the semifinals in Sydney before suffering an early exit at the Australian Open to the always dangerous Clara Tauson. But Kontaveit found success once again on the indoor-hard courts of Saint Petersburg. Defeating Maria Sakkari in the final, the Estonian won the title and brought her indoor-hard court winning streak to 20 match wins in a row. She carried her impeccable form to the outdoor hard courts of Doha, where she reached the final of a WTA 1000 level event for the first time in her career. Anett lost to current world #1, Iga Swiatek, in straight sets. This match would be a turning point for both women, as Anett lost her winning form and Iga seemed to reach a new level of her own. Kontaveit’s struggles were largely due to getting long Covid. She stated in several interviews how frustrating it was that her body just couldn’t seem to recover fully. Her stamina was severely hampered and her endurance was gone for months. Despite the lackluster form, Kontaveit reached a career-high ranking of world #2, due to having such a small number of points to defend for the first half of 2022.

Heading into Wimbledon, Anett announced she would be parting ways with Dmitry Tursunov and replacing him with Torben Beltz (famous for working with Angie Kerber). The Estonian had said the reason for the coaching change was due to Tursunov’s Russian passport not being accepted in many countries. He was unable to travel with her as much in 2022, and Anett felt like a normal coaching dynamic was becoming impossible. While I believe Tursunov added the most to her game and was “the perfect partnership”, I also believe Kontaveit is very easy to coach and takes direction well. Beltz is more known for guiding his players to be willing to rally, extend points, and to use safer patterns to win matches. Although it’s early in their partnership, I’ve been seeing some of Beltz’ influence in Anett’s game. She played a fantastic tournament in her hometown, Tallinn, where she reached the final. She still possesses the big and powerful combinations that Dmitry Tursunov implemented, but is also being a bit smarter when on defense - I believe Torben Beltz has a lot to do with that. Sadly, Kontaveit injured her back in the very next event she played in Ostrava. Just as she finally found her game again, she was forced to end her 2022 season with an injury.

It’s been a real struggle for the Estonian since catching long Covid, but she is finally fully healthy again. If she can manage to stay healthy for the majority of the 2023 season, I expect it to be a spectacular one. Besides Iga Swiatek, Anett is the only player who’s shown she can be dominant for a long stretch of time on the WTA tour. She was unquestionably the best player on hard courts for the last 6 months of 2021 and hardly lost a match. Winning matches is hard enough as it is, but winning 26 out of 28 matches against the world’s best, and going undefeated on indoor hard-courts for an entire season is enough to demand our attention. Personally, I would like to see someone challenge Iga. While I like Iga and have unwavering respect for what she’s achieved this year, I also like watching the best tennis players in the world consistently challenge each other. Iga trampled over the field this past year. With the tour full of talented players, many of them come with inconsistent results. Anett’s end to 2021 and indoor hard court streak was both consistent and dominant. She has the weapons and consistency to be unstoppable, and it’s only a matter of time before she taps into that form once again. A fully healthy Anett Kontaveit is something that everyone should be afraid of. As she’s already proven, when she’s at her best, she doesn’t lose.