Anett Kontaviet’s disappointing start to the 2023 season has suffered another blow after the Estonian was forced to pull out of next week’s Doha Open.
The 27-year-old is yet to win back-to-back matches this season and was knocked out in the second round of the Australian Open in what was is the fifth Grand Slam in a row where she has failed to reach the last 32. Earlier in the year, Kontaveit also suffered first round losses at two tournaments in Adelaide.
In her latest tournament at this week’s Dubai Tennis Championships, the Estonian suffered more setbacks with a back injury forcing her out. Kontaveit defeated Zhang Shuai in her opening match before having to retire during the third set of her next match against Shelby Rogers due to an issue with her lower back. Prompting her to also withdraw from her next scheduled tournament in Doha.
Kontaveit was defending 470 ranking points this week, as well as another 585 points next week. As a result of her injury woes, she is now set to drop down the rankings to outside the top 50 in the coming weeks. To put that into perspective, she held the No.2 position last summer and remained inside the world’s top five until October.
As long as she is fit to do so, Kontaveit could regain some ground next month during the North American hardcourt swing. She hasn’t got a substantial amount of points to defend at tournaments in either Indian Wells or Miami after suffering early losses in those events last year.
The last time Kontaveit was ranked outside the top 50 was in May 2017. So far in her career, she has won six WTA titles – three WTA 250 and three WTA 500 events.
