|
|
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (Russian:
Анна
Сергеевна
Курникова),
Anna Sergeevna Kurnikova; born June 7, 1981) is a
retired Russian professional tennis player and model.
Although she never won a major singles tournament, she
became one of the best known tennis players worldwide.
At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of
Kournikova made her name (or misspellings of it) one of
the most common search strings on Google.
She was born in Moscow, Soviet Union to Alla and Sergei
Kournikov; her family later migrated to the United
States. Presently, she resides in Miami, Florida.
Kournikova's major-league tennis career has been
curtailed for the past several years, and possibly
ended, by serious back and spinal problems. She has had
some success at the singles game, but her specialty has
been doubles, where she has at times been the world's
No.1 doubles player. With Martina Hingis as her partner,
she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002.
Kournikova's playing style fits the profile for a
doubles player, and is complemented by her height. She
has been compared to such players as Pam Shriver and
Peter Fleming.
Tennis career: She trained from an early age at
the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
At ages 13 and 14, Kournikova made headlines in
international junior tennis, winning several tournaments
including the 1995 Italian Open. She was 14 years old
when she ended 1995 as Junior European Champion Under 18
and ITF Junior World Champion Under 18.
Kournikova debuted in professional tennis at age 14 in
the Fed Cup for Russia, the youngest player ever to
participate and win. At age 15, she reached the fourth
round of the 1996 U.S. Open, only to be stopped by
then-top ranked player, Steffi Graf.
Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the
1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1997, as a
16-year-old, she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon,
where she lost to the eventual champion, Martina Hingis
by a score of 6-3, 6-2. 1998 was her breakthrough year,
when she broke into the WTA's top 20 rankings for the
first time and scored impressive victories over Martina
Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Steffi Graf. Kournikova's
two Grand Slam doubles titles came in 1999 and 2002,
both at the Australian Open in the Women's Doubles event
with partner Martina Hingis, with whom she played
frequently starting in 1999.
Kournikova proved a successful doubles player on the
professional circuit, winning 16 tournament doubles
titles, including two Australian Opens and being a
finalist in mixed doubles at the U.S. Open and at
Wimbledon, and reaching the No.1 ranking in doubles in
the Women's Tennis Association tour rankings. Her pro
career doubles record was 200-71.
However, her singles career plateaued
after 1999. For the most part, she managed to retain her
ranking between 10 and 15 (her career high singles
ranking was No.8), but her expected finals breakthrough
failed to occur; she only reached four finals out of 130
singles tournaments, never in a Grand Slam event, and
never won one. As a player, Kournikova was noted for her
footspeed and aggressive baseline play and excellent
angles and dropshots; however, her flat, high-risk
groundstrokes tended to produce high numbers of errors
and her serve was sometimes unreliable in singles. Her
singles record is 209-129.
Her final playing years were marred by a string of
injuries, especially back injuries, which caused her
ranking to erode gradually. Kournikova has not played on
the WTA tour since 2003, but still plays exhibition
matches for charitable causes.
In late 2004, she participated in three events organized
by Elton John and by fellow tennis players Serena
Williams and Andy Roddick. In January 2005, she played
in a doubles charity event for the Indian Ocean tsunami
with John McEnroe, Roddick, and Chris Evert.
In November 2005, she teamed up with Martina Hingis,
playing against Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the
WTT finals for charity. Kournikova is also a member of
the Sacramento Capitals in the World Team Tennis (WTT),
playing doubles only.
In a feature for ELLE magazine's July 2005 issue,
Kournikova stated that if she were 100% fit, she would
like to come back and compete again.
Media publicity: Most of Kournikova's fame has
come from the publicity surrounding her personal life as
well as numerous modeling shoots. During her debut at
the 1996 U.S. Open at the age of 15, Kournikova's beauty
was noticed by the world and soon pictures of her
appeared in numerous magazines worldwide.
Kournikova's marital status has been an issue on several
occasions. There were conflicting rumors about whether
or not she was engaged to hockey player Pavel Bure.
There were reports that she married NHL hockey star
Sergei Fedorov in 2001. Kournikova's representatives
have denied this, but Fedorov stated in 2003 that the
couple had married and since divorced. Kournikova
currently has a relationship with pop star Enrique
Iglesias (in whose video, "Escape", she
appeared), and rumors that the couple had secretly
married appeared in 2003 and again in 2005.
Kournikova herself has consistently
refused to directly confirm or deny rumors about the
status of her personal relationships. But, in May 2007,
Enrique Iglesias was (mistakenly, as he would clarify
later) quoted in the NY Sun that he had no intention to
marry Anna and settle down so they had split up. The
singer would later deny these rumors of 'divorce' or
simply separation.
In 2000, Kournikova became the new face for Berlei's
shock absorber sports bras range, and appeared in the
highly successful "only the ball should
bounce" bill board campaign. Photographs of her
scantily-clad form have appeared in various men's
magazines, including more than one much-publicized
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (2004 – 2005), where
she posed in bikinis and swimsuits, and in other popular
men's publications such as FHM and Maxim.
Kournikova was named one of People's 50 Most Beautiful
People in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003 and was voted
"hottest female athlete" and "hottest
couple" (with Iglesias) on ESPN.com. In 2002 she
also placed first in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the
World in U.S. and UK editions.
By contrast, ESPN — citing the degree of hype as
compared to actual accomplishments as a singles player
— ranked Kournikova 18th in its "25 Biggest
Sports Flops of the Past 25 Years". |
|
Find
everything about your favorite celebrities women and
men, official sites, and contact addresses, Browse photo
galleries of famous actors, actresses, models, and other
celebrities. Get the latest on your favorite hottest
actors and acctresses with entertainment news, celebrity
biography, profile, photos, autographs, wallpapers,
quotes, films .. and much more. |
Snoron Celebrities and Models Wallpapers 
