Kontaveit had played his way up to second place in the WTA world with a fabulous end of the 2021 season and a great start to the 2022 season, mainly thanks to a series of victories under a closed roof. Then came a corona disease, which occupied her for a long time, and now the Estonian is being prevented from playing tennis by permanent back problems.

Kontaveit is currently only in 61st place, she has been missing since she gave up in Abu Dhabi a month ago. Kontaveit explained to the Estonian portal Delfi Sport (and picked up by the English website ERR News ) that she would probably never be able to play without injury again. "My injury is specifically about degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs in the lumbar spine and irritation due to a previous injury to the left thigh," said the 27-year-old, who has been trained by ex-Kerber coach Torben Beltz since 2022.

She tackles the problems with special physiotherapy exercises, says Kontaveit, but a cure seems impossible. "I'll probably never be completely free of it, but getting it under control enough to continue playing without pain will hopefully be doable."

Kontaveit is currently aiming for a comeback at the Miami Open, at least she is registered here.