Tursunov announces split with Kontaveit on the day she reaches career-high ranking

Monday, 06 June 2022 at 18:30

Updated at Saturday, 19 October 2024 at 22:43

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byJordan Reynolds

After less than a year of working together, many tennis fans have been left stunned by the news that Anett Kontaveit has split with her coach, Dimitry Tursunov.

Tursunov began his partnership with Kontaveit on 16 August 2021. The Estonian player had some strong results while working with Tursunov, who retired after a solid ATP career in 2017.

Kontaveit began 2022 by reaching the semifinal at the Sydney International. She almost made it all the way to the final, but she lost a very close semifinal, 6-0, 4-6, 6-7, to Barbora Krejcikova.

That was followed by an even better result at the St Petersburg Open the following month. Kontaveit won five consecutive matches to claim the title, including an enthralling 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 victory in the final against Maria Sakkari.

The 26-year-old also had a great tournament in Doha this year. A 6-1, 6-4 triumph against Jelena Ostapenko took her into another final. But she was swept aside 6-2, 6-0, in the final against Iga Swiatek.

Admittedly, Kontaveit's last two matches were first-round defeats at the Italian Open and the French Open. However, no tennis fan could have predicted that her opening-round loss in Paris would be her last with Tursunov as her coach.

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Tursunov did not give a reason why he and Kontaveit were splitting in his announcement, but the phrasing did seem to indicate that it was not his decision to end the partnership.

"I would like to announce that Anett and I will not continue the partnership. I would like to thank Anett for the opportunity, congratulate her on career-high ranking and wish her the best of luck onward. Feel proud of the work I put in and a bit sad but sometimes good things must come to an end."

Regardless of whose decision it was to end the partnership, Tursunov has gained credibility as a coach after helping Kontaveit reach a career-high ranking. It will be interesting to observe what his next move is.