My Stuff: My Babes List (#73)

#72 Anna Kournikova

Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (Russian: Анна Сергеевна Курникова, Ánna Sergéyevna Kúrnikova; born June 7, 1981) is a tennis player. She is one of the best known tennis players, especially among those who do not follow the game. Anna was born in Moscow, Russia to Alla and Sergei Kournikov; her family later emigrated to the United States, and she currently resides in Miami, Florida.

Tennis career

Anna dazzled the world at age 13 and 14 in international junior tennis, winning several tournaments including the 1995 Italian Open. Anna Kournikova was 14 years old when she ended 1995 as Junior European Champion U(nder)18 and ITF Junior World Champion U18.

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.

Anna 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. 1998 was her real breakthrough year, she entered WTA top 20 for the first time and scored several victories over worlds' then-top players, including Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Steffi Graf. Kournikova's first of two Grand Slam doubles titles came in 1999 at the Australian Open in the Women's Doubles event with partner Martina Hingis, with whom she played frequently. Hingis-Kournikova team proved effective and they were popular with audiences; they dubbed themselves as 'Spice Girls of tennis'.

Kournikova proved a successful doubles player on professional circuit, winning sixteen doubles titles, including two Australian Opens and being a finalist in mixed doubles at the US Open and Wimbledon, and reaching #1 in doubles in the Women's Tennis Association tour rankings. Her career doubles record was 200-71. However, after 1999 her singles career plateaued, and whilst she mostly managed to retain her ranking between #10 and #15 (her career high singles ranking was #8), expected final breakthrough failed to occur; most importantly, she only reached a WTA singles final four times in 130 tournaments, and never won one. One contributing factor might have been was that she tended to enter high-profile, prestigious events with strong fields of elite players. As a player, Kournikova was noted for her excellent footspeed and aggressive baseline play; however, her flat, high-risk groundstrokes tended to produce high amount of errors and her serve was notoriously unreliable. She had a record of 209-129 as a singles player.

Her final playing years were marred by string of injuries which saw her ranking and confidence gradually erode. Kournikova has not played on the WTA tour since 2003, but she still plays exhibition matches for charitable causes. In late 2004 she participated in three events organized by Elton John and by fellow tennis stars and good friends Serena Williams and Andy Roddick. She played for Tsunami relief January 2005 with John McEnroe, Andy Roddick and Chris Evert.

Anna was also a member of Newport Beachbreakers in the World Team Tennis (WTT) competition in July and November 2005, playing doubles only. In November 2005 she teamed up with Martina Hingis, reviving the 'Spice girls of tennis' once again, playing against Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the WTT finals for charity. In her 'Elle' column July 2005 Kournikova stated that if she were 100% fit she would like to come back and compete again.

Media publicity

Much of Anna's fame -- more, many have argued, than she ever gained in her tennis career --has come from publicity surrounding her personal life as well as numerous modelling shoots. During her debut at the US Open 1996 at age 15, Kournikova got noticed and soon pictures of her appeared in numerous magazines all over the world.

A number of her relationships with other celebrities, including romantic involvement with pop star Enrique Iglesias (in whose video, Escape, she appeared) and with hockey star Sergei Fedorov, have featured prominently in the tabloid press. Photographs of her scantily-clad form have appeared in various men's magazines, including a much-publicized Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and other popular publications such as FHM and Maxim.

Kournikova was named one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003. She has also been voted "hottest athlete" and "hottest couple" (with Enrique) on espn.com and "sexiest woman in the world" by FHM readers (2003). By contrast, ESPN -- citing the degree of hype as compared to actual accomplishments as a singles player -- ranked Anna 18^th in its "25 Biggest Sports Flops of the Past 25 Years".

Kournikova had a small role (as a motel manager) in the 2000 film Me, Myself and Irene, starring Jim Carrey.

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