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Anett Kontaveit has withdrawn from next week's WTA 500 event in Doha likely due to a back injury.
This week, Kontaveit competed in Abu Dhabi.Doha update
OUT: Kontaveit
IN: Muchova
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On Wednesday, Kontaveit was forced to retire in the third set of her Abu Dhabi round-of-16 match against Shelby Rogers. In the third set, Kontaveit called a medical timeout due to lower back issues. Kontaveit continued the match for two games, before retiring.
Following her Abu Dhabi retirement, Kontaveit also pulled out of Doha. Kontaveit, 27, won't be making her sixth consecutive Doha appearance. Last year, Kontaveit achieved her best Doha result as she made the final before losing to Iga Swiatek.
Kontaveit didn't stand much of a chance against Iga Swiatek
12 months ago, Kontaveit was having a strong Doha run as she made the final with just one set dropped. Then in the final, Kontaveit had no chance against Swiatek as the Pole crushed the Estonian 6-2 6-0.
After the final, Swiatek said she entered the final knowing that she needed to play her best against Kontaveit. "I knew that Anett is going to play well, because she's shown consistency throughout the whole six months, I would say.
I needed to put pressure on her, and I'm pretty happy that I did that well today. It's so nice to have these kind of matches where you don't actually have problems with keeping the pace and with staying aggressive, because right now I'm a more aggressive player, and I really love it, because it's giving me a lot of confidence on and off court.
It's just making sometimes life on court easier," Swiatek said after beating Kontaveit in the Doha final. Meanwhile, it has been a rough start to the 2023 season for former world No 2 Kontaveit. After her first four tournaments of the year, Kontaveit is just 2-4.