London (Reuters)
Anett Kontaveit arrived in Australia at the start of the year to the benefit of her impressive record at the end of last season, but quickly returned to reality after being knocked out in the second round at the first Grand Slam of the year.
Kontaveit was ranked 30th in the rankings in August, but after winning titles in Cleveland, Ostrava, Moscow and Cluj in the second half of the season, the Estonian entered the top 10 world rankings and qualified for the ATP Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico, to finish second.
The 26-year-old looked set to build on that strong early season performance after reaching the semi-finals in Sydney, but she made an early exit from the Australian Open after losing in straight sets to Denmark’s Clara Towson.
It was a tough defeat,” Kontaveit told the WTA website. I expected a lot from myself at the Australian Open. I went back to my country and put in a lot of effort. I tried to make up for the training doses that I couldn’t do in preparation for the new season, because the previous season was very long and I had some health problems. I trained hard and started to improve. Tennis is a great sport because you get a new opportunity every week.
Kontaveit reaped the rewards of this hard work to regain the winning streak on Sunday and come back from a set down to beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari 5-7, 7-6, 7-5, to win the St. Petersburg Women’s Championship, her sixth WTA singles title.
It was also Kontaveit’s 20th consecutive victory in an indoor match, which means that it has won its last four indoor tournaments.
Kontaveit did not find an explanation for this success in the indoor tournaments.
“I can’t find an explanation for that,” said Kontaveit, who climbed to sixth place in the world on Monday, the highest she has reached in her career. Perhaps inside the halls there is no wind or sunshine. There is nothing affecting your performance. But I think all the players benefit from this. I can’t get my hands on a specific reason and I’m not sure if the indoor tournaments fit my playing style more or it’s just a coincidence.