Former world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit retiring at 27 due to back issue: 'I am ready for new challenges'

Anett Kontaveit made a shocking and unexpected announcement on Tuesday: At just 27 years old, she's retiring from professional tennis.

In her Instagram post, Kontaveit revealed that she's been diagnosed with lumbar disc degeneration in her back, which prevents her from training and playing at a level that will allow her to seriously compete with the other talented women on the tour. That led her to make the difficult decision to end her competitive career after one final hurrah at Wimbledon in July.

Kontaveit, who hails from the small country of Estonia, is currently ranked No. 79 in the world after a first-round exit from the French Open, but was ranked No. 2 in the world as recently as last year. She won six WTA titles over the course of her career, plus 11 ITA singles titles. But she always had issues at Grand Slams — her best finish at any of them was a trip to the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2020.

No athlete wants to be forced into retirement due to an injury. They would all rather make the decision when they're ready and go out on their own terms. Kontaveit isn't getting that choice, but at Wimbledon she will get a chance to say goodbye to the game that "has given and taught me a lot."

And if some of the comments on her Instagram post are any indication, she'll have no shortage of well-wishers ready to give her a great sendoff. American Sloane Stephens is just one of the players who left a heartfelt comment on Kontaveit's Insta post.