Anett Kontaveit will have Torben Beltz in her corner as she seeks to advance beyond the third round of Wimbledon for the first time. Beltz, the seasoned German coach who was jettisoned by US Open champion Emma Raducanu in April, will pick up the slack following the departure of Dmitry Tursunov, the former Russian player with whom Kontaveit split a fortnight ago.
Beltz is best known for his work with former world No 1 Angelique Kerber. The 45-year-old oversaw Kerber’s formative years on the tour and later guided her to the Australian and US Open titles. His partnership with Raducanu was less successful, however, lasting just five months before the British teenager decided on a change of direction after struggling with injuries and a succession of early-round defeats.
With Wimbledon a week away and Kontaveit struggling with illness and waning form, Beltz will need to hit the ground running if his new charge is to live up to her billing as second seed.
Kontaveit, who was beaten by Marketa Vondrousova in the opening round at the All England Club last summer, has been struggling to shake off the lingering effects of a recent bout of Covid, and will arrive in SW19 without any competitive play on grass after she was forced to pull out of the Eastbourne International, where she was a finalist last year.
“Unfortunately I won’t be able to come and play in Eastbourne this year,” the 26-year-old announced on Monday. “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.”
Kontaveit rose from 30th in the world to No 2 on Tursunov’s watch, winning four successive titles towards the end of last season before reaching the title round at the WTA Finals, where she was defeated by Garbiñe Muguruza.
As Kontaveit explained to the Estonian public broadcaster EER earlier this month, however, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made it difficult for the Moscow-born Tursunov to travel this year, forcing her to rethink the collaboration.
“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,” said Kontaveit. “I still feel I need a coach who can accompany me and who does not have so many practical issues.
“There was a lack of such security, given the situation. He could not come to America with me in March, and now he had a visa problem in relation to England. The visa process was very complicated for him.”
Tursunov, a former top-20 player who reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2008 and won seven titles on the ATP Tour before retiring in 2017, expressed disappointment over the demise of the partnership.
“I would like to thank Anett for the opportunity, congratulate on a career-high ranking and wish her best of luck onward,” he wrote on Twitter. “Feel proud of the work I put in and a bit sad, but sometimes good things must come to an end.”
Kontaveit, who was also forced to pull out of last week’s grass-court event in Berlin, was upset by Ajla Tomljanovic in the opening round of the French Open in her most recent competitive outing.