Anett Kontaveit is being followed by Netflix cameras at Wimbledon for what will be her last tournament at only 27.
Kontaveit has been a spectacular player for a good chunk of her career yet she's bidding farewell to tennis at the age of 27. The Estonian player announced her sudden retirement a few weeks ago after it became clear that her back injury was only going to get worse if she kept playing.
Due to the complicated nature of the degenerative disc disease, Kontaveit was forced to abandon her career in order to avoid any excessive damage to her back which would make her life tougher down the line. It's an unfortunate end for a player who was very excited about coming back to tennis recently. However, her days on the WTA Tour are over and she spoke about it to iNews.
I’ve been trying to do everything in my power, tried to take time off, tried to do exercise, nothing seemed to help. I thought about it for a long time because my back’s been bothering me since last year.
I’ve talked about this quite a lot so now I’ve come to terms with it. I can be composed and everything but there was definitely a time where I was getting very teary-eyed every time I talked about it. I think when the match is finished, it’s going to be very difficult to stay composed.
Kontaveit is unsure what the future holds but she's been doing stuff along with her tennis fully aware that one day she won't be playing anymore. Psychology is an interest she holds and she's going to focus on her studies. Besides that, it's just going to be nice to be back at home for a prolonged period of time.
I’m studying psychology. I’ve done that for three years now. I have a few more years to go. So I’m gonna put the load on little bit, do that more intensively. I’m just really looking forward to being able to be at home.
I think it’s important for me to learn how to relax a little bit. I think I’m very much I do one thing 100 per cent and then I do another thing 100 per cent.
The condition itself is going to stay with her for the rest of her life. She's already feeling it while doing normal stuff let alone playing tennis and making it worse only to not even play her best tennis simply wasn't worth it.
When I stand up for a while, it starts aching. When I sit for too long starts aching. So when I do like normal things, I feel it as well.
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