(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Anett Kontaveit admits she is not able to play as well as she did before sustaining degenerative changes of the lumbar discs in her spine. Kontaveit, a former world No 2, ended her 2022 season a bit prematurely to address a back issue.
Kontaveit, who has plummeted to No 78 in the world, started her 2023 season in time but went just 2-4 in her first four tournaments of the year. In mid-February, Kontaveit announced another break to again address a back problem – she was out for two months before returning to action during the Billie Jean King Cup.
On the WTA level, Kontaveit is just 3-6 in 2023. “I am not able to play as well as before when I felt good, I was healthy. Many players have injuries. I have to accept that and do as much as I can on the court,” Kontaveit told Dominik Senkowski.
Anett about her injury, degenerative changes in the lumbar discs in the spine: “I am not able to play as well as before when I felt good, I was healthy. Many players have injuries. I have to accept that and do as much as I can on the court.” 5/5 — Dominik Senkowski (@dsenkowski07) June 10, 2023
Kontaveit will never fully recover from her back injury
When Kontaveit announced a break in mid-February, she was hoping to return to action in Indian Wells and Miami.
But Kontaveit missed the Sunshine Double and also revealed what was exactly the issue with her back. “More precisely, my injury is the degenerative changes of the lumbar discs of the spine and irritation of the adductors of the left thigh due to previous trauma.
I am treating it with special exercises and physiotherapy, I am helped by [physiotherapists] Toms Zvonkovs and Lauri Ott. It’s something that I probably won’t be completely free of anymore. But it can (hopefully) be controlled well enough so that I can continue to play without pain,” Kontaveit said in an email interview to Delfi and Eesti Päevaleh in March.
Meanwhile, Kontaveit last competed at the French Open, where she suffered a first-round defeat to Bernarda Pera. It remains to be seen how well can Kontaveit do during the grass season.
