Melbourne
Anett Kontaveit says that reaching her first Grand Slam quarter-final on Monday helps banish the heartbreak of pulling out of the US Open with an illness that torpedoed her 2019 season and required surgery.
The 24-year-old became the first Estonian woman to reach the last eight in Melbourne after battling past Polish teenager Iga Swiatek 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-5 in 2hrs 42mins.
The 28th seed faces a tough test next against fourth seed Simona Halep, one of the favourites for the title.
Kontaveit has had a turbulent few months, forced to pull out of her third-round clash with Belinda Bencic in New York after falling unwell with a viral illness.
She later required surgery and did not play a match for the rest of last year. ‘It was really hard, so tough to retire at a Grand Slam. It was a really tough couple of months after that,’ she said, after holding off a late charge from the 18-year-old Swiatek.
‘But I’m so happy I’m through that now. I started training in mid-November, and it’s been only uphill (getting better) from there,’ Kontaveit added with a smile.
The Estonian’s return to full form and fitness was in evidence when she thrashed the Swiss sixth seed Bencic 6-0, 6-1 in the third round in Melbourne.
Her British coach Nigel Sears says her forced exit at the US Open checked some stunning momentum at Flushing Meadows, where she was the 21st seed. ‘(She) got an internal infection that got out of control very quickly,’ he said at the Australian Open.
‘I suddenly had a phone call early in the morning that she was on her way to hospital, she ended up being hospitalised for a week in New York and then had surgery for a procedure to remove an abscess.—APP
