Anett Kontaveit has confirmed that she has entered into a new coaching arrangement ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.
The world No.2 has announced on her website that she has begun working with Germany’s Torben Beltz who has a wealth of experience in the sport. Beltz is best known for his work with Germany’s Angelique Kerber who won two Grand Slam titles during 2016 under his guidance. Most recently he briefly worked with reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu before the Brit ended their collaboration in April.
Kontaveit, who has won five WTA titles since August, has been without a mentor after separating with former player Dmitry Tursunov. During an interview with ERR she said the separation was due to Tursunov’s ongoing difficulty of travelling around the world due to his Russian nationality.
“I want to thank him for a very successful and strong cooperation, I am very grateful to him,” Kontaveit said earlier this month.
“The reason is that, since he has a Russian passport, it is very difficult for him to get visas at the moment, meaning he can’t accompany me to many tournaments. I still feel I need a coach who can accompany me and who does not have so many practical issues.”
So far this season the 26-year-old has achieved a win-loss record of 18-6 with her best result occurring at the St Petersburg Open when she won the title. However, more recently the Estonian has struggled on the Tour with three consecutive losses. Her last match was at the French Open where she lost in the first round to Ajla Tomljanovic.
Kontaveit recently revealed that she is still suffering from the after-effects of contracting COVID-19. She was due to play in this week’s Eastbourne International but withdrew due to the state of her current health.
“Unfortunately I won’t be able to come and play in Eastbourne this year. I still need to recover and take care of my health after my infection to Covid recently. I didn’t feel good on court lately so I prefer not to take any risk and come back when I will be at 100%. Hope to see you all in Eastbourne in 2023.” She said in a statement published on the LTA website.
Facing a race against time to be fit, Kontaveit is set to be the second seed at Wimbledon which will begin next Monday. She is yet to progress beyond the third round at The All England Club.
