Anna Kournikova Biography, Facts, Highlights, Personal Profile, Personal Life
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 Anna Kournikova began playing tennis at age 5 with friends in a weekly children’s sports program...Coached by Harold Solomon; first coach in Russia was Larisa Preobrazhenskaya; went to Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida for tennis training in February 1992 and stayed until moving to Miami in 1997...Mother’s name is Alla; father’s name is Sergei.Graduated from a Russian high school in 1997, and started Physical Culture Russian Academy in September 1997...In 2000, made a $10,000 donation to junior tennis in Russia and financially assisted the upgrade of her first tennis club, Spartak...Likes to dance, read and listen to music...Favourite tournaments are Roland Garros and Wimbledon...Other sports interests include NBA basketball, ice hockey and Major League Baseball...Favourite colour is black...Loves animals, art, fashion, the ocean and beaches.
Anna Kournikova in Brief: Fact Files
Real Name / Birth Name / Full Name / AKA: Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova
Date of birth: 7-Jun-1981
Birthplace (location): Moscow, Russia
Nickname: Murzik ("my little pet" in Russian)
Gender: Female
Occupation: Sports - Tennis
Nationality:
Height: 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Measurements:
Executive summary: Sexy tennis player never wins tournaments
Family, Parents, Dating:
Father: Sergei
Mother: Alla
Husband: Sergei Fedorov (hockey player, Detroit Red Wings, div.)
Boyfriend: Enrique Iglesias
Education:
Contact, Fan Mailing, Autograph Address of Anna Kournikova:
UTA
9560 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 5
Beverly Hills, California 90212
USA
Anna Kournikova Biography:
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova was born in Moscow, Russia to parents Alla and Sergei Kournikov, but currently lives in Miami, Florida, in the United States.
She dazzled the world at age 13 and 14 in international junior tennis, winning many tournaments including the 1995 Orange Bowl and the 1995 Italian Open. Anna Kournikova ended 1995 as the Junior European Champion and as Junior World Champion.
She set her mark after she became a professional player. Kournikova debuted at age 14 in the Fed Cup for Russia, still the youngest player ever participating. As a 15-year old she reached the fourth round of the 1996 US Open, only to be stopped by world number 1, Steffi Graf. That same year she was a member of the Russian delegation that participated in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. As a 16-year old she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon. Kournikova's first Grand Slam title came in 1999 at the Australian Open in the Women's Doubles event with partner Martina Hingis. Kournikova and Hingis frequently played as doubles partners.
While consistently ranked in the top 20 in the WTA tour rankings, she never won a professional singles tournament (though she made the semi-finals and finals of many). Her serve was notably weak for a top-level tennis player but her variety of shots delighted the pure tennis fan. Now she is perhaps more famous for her beauty than for her tennis skills.
A number of her relationships have featured prominently in the tabloid press, and photographs of her scantily-clad form have appeared in various "lad magazines," including a much publicized Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Kournikova was named one of People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003. She was voted hottest athlete for consecutive years on espn.com. In 2003, readers of FHM magazine voted Anna the sexiest woman in the world. Kournikova had a small role (as a motel manager) in the 2000 film Me, Myself and Irene, starring Jim Carrey.
In 2001 she had ankle surgery and in 2003 she had complicated back surgery. Although she is not playing on the WTA tour due to these injuries, she still plays exhibition matches for a good cause. In late 2004 for example she participated in three charity events organised by Elton John and by good friends Serena Williams and Andy Roddick.
Details:
Sergei and Alla Kournikova knew that their lives would change when they brought daughter Anna into the world on June 7, 1981. They just didn't know the entire tennis world would soon be turned upside down as well.
Both Alla and Sergei, a natural athlete who wrestled professionally and coached tennis part-time, encouraged their daughter to take part in physical activity at an early age. When she turned five, Anna received a Christmas gift that would change her life.
"I found my first racquets under the Christmas tree," Anna recalls, "but I found out later that my parents sold one of their TVs to get me those racquets."
From that moment, Anna has rarely put down her racquet. She began hitting at Moscow's Soklniki Park and soon was a member of the prestigious Spartak Tennis Club, coached by the husband of Russian pro Olga Morozova. At eight, Anna began appearing in junior clinics and quickly caught the eye of local tennis scouts. Still, she says, her childhood was "regular, average" as she spent a lot of time shopping, going to amusement parks and spending time with friends.
When the ATP Tour established a major tournament in Moscow in 1990, Anna would have the opportunity to show off her skills for the international tennis community. The nine-year-old prodigy competed in the juniors and soon signed a management deal. Within two years, Anna was headed to Bradenton, Fla., where she would train at coach Nick Bolletierri's famed tennis academy.
Bolletieri instantly recognized her potential.
"Anna is a shotmaker," he said. "She has the ability to create situations on the court that very few people can create. And at the net she's brilliant. She hits volleys from all angles. The only person I could compare her to is John McEnroe."
Anna Kournikova was on the professional track, and everyone knew it. At 14, she become the youngest player ever to win a Fed Cup match and captured the European Championships and Italian Open juniors. At the close of 1995, she was ranked No. 1 and crowned as ITF Junior World Champion. She was ready to hit the professional circuit.
Shortly after turning 15, Anna burst onto the pro scene after much media fanfare by reaching the fourth round in her first Grand Slam tournament, the '96 U.S. Open, and the semifinals of her debut at Wimbledon in '97.
In the subsequent years, she has maintained a consistent presence in the top ten singles rankings and captured a Grand Slam doubles title with Martina Hingis at the '99 Australian Open. Most recently, she tore through the competition en route to a semifinal appearance at the 2001 Australian Open in Melbourne.
The 19-year-old Russian has beaten virtually every top player in the women's field and is the only player in the past 15 years to have defeated four consecutive top ten players in a single tournament, which she did on her way to the '98 final in Key Biscayne, Fla.
Perhaps the most heavily sponsored and marketed female athlete in sport today, Anna also ranks as one of the biggest draws on the entire tennis tour, commanding Standing-Room-Only crowds for her Grand Slam appearances and often selling out exhibitions from Mahwah, N.J. to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The game's most respected veterans seem to agree that Anna is destined for superstardom.
"She's a gorgeous young woman who's very fit and works hard at her profession and is in the top ten in the world," says 18-time-Grand-Slam winner Chris Evert. "I think she's good for tennis."
Tennis legend Billie Jean King echoes those sentiments.
"Anna is the real thing," says King. "She's great off the ground and quick. Most of all, she loves the limelight and loves the show courts. She's having a good time out here and is poised for the big time."
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