Tallinn
A mother's coaching
Kontaveit was born in Tallinn on 24 December 1995 and learned the game from her mother, Ülle Milk, who was her first coach. She turned professional in 2010.
Source: ERR NewsThe 21st century
Anett Kontaveit
Estonia · born Tallinn, 1995 · right-handed · 's-Hertogenbosch champion 2017 and former world No. 2
All playersBack to the rankings
2
Career-high WTA singles ranking, June 2022
6
WTA singles titles, the first of them on grass
6-2, 6-3
Her final against Natalia Vikhlyantseva at 's-Hertogenbosch, 2017
3R
Best Wimbledon singles result, in 2017, 2018 and 2019
2021
WTA Finals runner-up, the first Estonian to qualify
Playing career
Anett Kontaveit was born in Tallinn in 1995 and was first coached by her mother, Ülle Milk. She turned professional in 2010 and played junior events alongside the tour, reaching the girls' singles semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2012, where she lost to the eventual champion Eugenie Bouchard. Grass gave her an early lift on the senior tour: in 2015 she won a $50,000 ITF event at Eastbourne and earned a wild card into the Wimbledon main draw.
Her first WTA title came on grass at 's-Hertogenbosch in June 2017, when she was 21 and ranked No. 49. She reached the quarter-finals of the 2020 Australian Open, her best result at a major, and in 2021 won four titles between August and October to become the first Estonian to play the WTA Finals, where she finished runner-up. She reached No. 2 in the world on 6 June 2022, the highest ranking of any Estonian player, and won six WTA singles titles in all.
A degenerative back injury ended her career at 27. She announced in June 2023 that Wimbledon would be her last tournament, lost there in the second round to Marie Bouzková 6-1, 6-2, and said goodbye to a home crowd in Tallinn that November in an exhibition against Ons Jabeur.
On grass
| 's-Hertogenbosch 2017 | Beat sixth seed Kristýna Plíšková, Kirsten Flipkens, Carina Witthöft and seventh seed Lesia Tsurenko, coming back from a set down in her first two matches, then beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-2, 6-3 in the final for her first WTA title. It took her into the top 40 for the first time |
|---|---|
| British grass, 2015 | Won the $50,000 ITF event at Eastbourne without dropping a set and reached the semi-finals at Surbiton and Ilkley; the run earned her a Wimbledon wild card, and she lost in the first round to Victoria Azarenka |
| Wimbledon | Third round in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Girls' singles semi-finalist in 2012. Her last professional singles match was a 6-1, 6-2 second-round defeat by Marie Bouzková in 2023; her last match of all was in the mixed doubles there with Emil Ruusuvuori |
| Title defence | Lost in the first round at 's-Hertogenbosch in 2018 to Veronika Kudermetova |
Every grass title: 1
Show every title, tournament by tournament
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Women's singles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I am so happy and proud, winning this title after a fantastic week. The result of hard work"
Anecdotes
The person behind the player.
Eastbourne, 2015
A wild card earned on grass
In 2015 she won a $50,000 ITF title at Eastbourne, and her grass results that summer earned her a main-draw wild card into Wimbledon. ERR also recalled that three years earlier she had lost to Eugenie Bouchard in the girls' semi-finals at the All England Club.
Source: ERR NewsRosmalen, June 2017
A flattering score
She called the week the result of hard work and was proud of coming back from a set down in her first two matches. Of the 6-2, 6-3 final she was frank: "The final was difficult and the result was flattering." She added: "In the second set I was down one break. It was not easy."
Source: Libéma OpenUS Open, 2022
Serena's last win
Kontaveit, then second seed, lost to Serena Williams in the second round of the 2022 US Open. It was the last match Williams won before she retired.
Source: Associated Press, via Herald-StandardWimbledon, July 2023
Sadness and happiness
Her back problem had made ordinary life hard: "When I stand up for too long or sit down for too long in the same position, it starts bothering me." After her last singles match, a defeat by Marie Bouzková, she said: "Just a lot of emotions. There's sadness, there's happiness."
Source: Associated Press, via Herald-StandardTallinn, November 2023
Farewell with a friend
She said goodbye in a sold-out Tondiraba Ice Hall against Ons Jabeur, the first person she thought of inviting. Jabeur won 6-4, 4-6, 10-7, and joked: "If you ever host a competition here, maybe I'll come back and Anett will coach me!"
Source: WTAJoin Grass Tennis Club
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Where they won on grass
- Autotron, Rosmalen ('s-Hertogenbosch)
- Find a grass court near you
Rivals and partners
- Ons Jabeur
- Marie Bouzková
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Simona Halep
- Natalia Vikhlyantseva
On Grass Tennis Club
Elsewhere online
Sources
- Anett Kontaveit, WTA profile
- Anett Kontaveit, Olympedia
- "Kontaveit proud winning first trophy", Libéma Open, 2017
- Libéma Open, history and complete winners' list
- "Tennis: Kontaveit wins first career title", ERR News, 2017
- "Anett Kontaveit's 13-year pro career ends in defeat in Wimbledon round two", ERR News, 2023
- "The last player Serena Williams beat, Anett Kontaveit, retires", Associated Press, 2023
- "Kontaveit says farewell to tennis in Tallinn exhibition with Jabeur", WTA, 2023
- Anett Kontaveit, Wikipedia
- GTC roll of grass champions, checked against a second source where one exists
Page updated 4 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.
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