For all the history she’s recently made in tennis, there’s a sense that Anett Kontaveit has a point to prove at Wimbledon this Fortnight.

Earlier this month, the 26-year-old became the most accomplished player in Estonia’s history by climbing to No.2 in the world rankings. But while that high was helped by the five WTA titles Kontaveit claimed between June 2021 and February this year, she is yet to contest a Grand Slam semi-final.

At Wimbledon, Kontaveit has not progressed beyond the third round in seven appearances – making it the only Grand Slam where she has not featured in the second week.

Despite the elevated ranking, there have been other difficulties. After contracting COVID in April, she contested only three clay court tournaments and lost in the first round at Roland-Garros. She arrived at The Championships having sat out all previous grass court events.

But in a straight sets victory over Bernarda Pera in the opening round on Monday, she showed she’s ready for business.

Taking an hour and 21 minutes to record her 7-5, 6-1 victory on No.2 Court, Kontaveit navigated a stern challenge from the world No.123.

Pera showed from the outset that the rankings disparity wouldn’t necessarily dictate proceedings, earning four break points in a nervous opening game from Kontaveit. There were six deuces over nine tense minutes before the Estonian registered on the scoreboard at last.

Still, Kontaveit survived that early challenge and immediately broke in the second game on her way to a 4-1 advantage.

But having gained control on her serve, an increasingly confident Pera was poised for a turnaround. She claimed the early break back in the seventh game, winning four straight games in total in a dramatic momentum shift.

Perhaps helped by the experience she’s gained in her rankings, Kontaveit refused to panic. Adding sting to her groundstrokes she also regained control, breaking back in the 10th game, and again in the 12th, to claim the first set in 55 minutes.

“I’m definitely really happy with the way I was fighting until the last point of the first set and just kept going, no matter the score,” Kontaveit said.

Having conceded the first set on a double fault, Pera appeared increasingly deflated. Kontaveit charged to a 5-0 lead in the second set, conceding only one more game as she secured a convincing victory when she forced an error from Pera on her first match point.

There were 27 errors in total for Pera, and 11 winners. And while Kontaveit registered 22 unforced errors of her own, her 23 total winners underlined her targeted aggression.

Winning five of eight break point opportunities she earned against Pera, Kontaveit also saved eight of the 10 break points the American accumulated – an especially pleasing outcome given it was her first grass court match since Wimbledon last year.

Not that it shows the world No.3 holds any aversion to the hallowed turf. “I love playing on grass and it’s really nice to play in front of the crowds and this court was fantastic,” smiled Kontaveit, who lists Wimbledon as her favourite tournament.

Her next opportunity comes against Jule Niemeier of Germany, who claimed a straight-sets win over China’s Wang Xiyu.

Kontaveit will bring confidence from both an overall composed performance against Pera, and her status as the No.2 seed.

“It’s been an incredible feeling being second seed,” she related. “I mean, I didn’t play any lead-up tournaments, so not a lot of confidence to take from that, but I’m just really enjoying myself out here and glad to be playing again at Wimbledon.”

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