Kournikova Anna life and biography

Anna Kournikova (full name Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova) was born on June 7, 1981. She is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Anna Kournikova Height : 5'8"/173 cm.

Career

At ages 13 and 14, Anna 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.

Anna 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 Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the 1996 Oly
mpic 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.

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 physical beauty was noticed by the world and soon pictures of her appeared in numerous magazines all over the planet.

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.

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, Andy 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 St. Louis Aces in the World Team Tennis (WTT), playing doubles only.

In September 2008, Kournikova showed up for the 2008 Nautica Malibu Triathlon held at Zuma Beach in Malibu, California. The Race raised funds for children's Hospital Los Angeles. She won that race for women's K-Swiss team. On 27 September 2008, Kournikova played exhibition matches in Charlotte, North Carolina; she played two mixed doubles matches. She partnered Tim Wilkison and Karel Novacek. Kournikova and Wilkinson defeated Jimmy Arias and Chanda Rubin, and then Kournikova and Novacek defeated Chanda Rubin and Tim Wilkison.

On 12 October 2008, Anna Kournikova played one exhibitional match for the annual charity event, hosted by Billie Jean King and Sir Elton John, raised more than $400,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund. She played doubles with Andy Roddick (they were coached by Sir Elton John) versus Martina Navratilova and Jesse Levine (coached by Billie Jean King); Kournikova and Roddick won 5–4(3).

Kournikova competed alongside John McEnroe, Tracy Austin and Jim Courier at the Legendary Night, which was held on 2 May 2009, at the Turning Stone Event Center, Verona, NY. The legendary night of tennis consisted of a grudge match between McEnroe and Courier in singles followed by a mixed doubles match of McEnroe and Austin against Courier and Kournikova.

She is the current K-Swiss spokesperson. 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.

On the 5th May 2010 it was announced that Kournikova would reunite with her doubles partner Martina Hingis and participate in competitve tennis for the 1st time in 7 years in the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon.

WTA Tour Titles :
Singles Finalist :

- 1998: Miami (lost to Venus Williams)
- 1999: Hilton Head (lost to Martina Hingis)
- 2000: Moscow (lost to Martina Hingis)
- 2002: Shanghai (lost to Anna Smashnova)

Doubles :

- 1998 Tokyo [Princess Cup] (w/Seles)
- 1999 Australian Open, Season-Ending Championships, Indian Wells, Rome, Eastbourne (all w/Hingis)
- 2000 Season-Ending Championships, Filderstadt, Zurich, Philadelphia (all w/Hingis), Gold Coast (w/Halard-Decugis), Hamburg (w/Zvereva)
- 2001 Sydney (w/Schett), Moscow (w/Hingis)
- 2002 Australian Open (w/Hingis), Shanghai (w/J.Lee)

Read more