Anna Kournikova - Russia 
| Birth Date:
| 6/7/1981 |
Age:
| 31 |
| Birth Place:
| Moscow, Russia |
Residence:
| Miami, Florida, USA |
| Height:
| 5' 8 1/4'' (1.73 m) |
Weight:
| 123 lbs. (56 kg) |
| Year Turned Pro:
| 1995 (17 years on tour) |
Plays:
| Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Official Website:
| http://www.kournikova.com/ |
Twitter:
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She never won a Grand Slam singles crown, an Olympic gold medal or a year-end title, but Russia's Anna Kournikova is arguably the most well-known female tennis player of all time.
Her looks made her famous far beyond the limits of her on-court abilities, although she did win two Australian Open doubles titles. Her modeling career, high-profile dating life and Internet popularity made many wonder how committed she was to the game.
Studying at Nick Bolletteri's school in Florida upon her arrival in the United States, Kournikova became the youngest person ever to win the 18-and-under division of the Junior Orange Bowl, doing so at age 14. Her professional debut came the same year as she played and won in the Fed Cup for her home country.
In 1996, she won the ITF titles at Midland and Rockford, earning herself a qualifier to the US Open. There, she advanced to the main draw, then beat four straight opponents including No. 14 Barbara Paulus to reach the fourth round. No. 1 Steffi Graf ended her Cinderella run there, but Kournikova moved up from No. 144 to No. 84 in the rankings. She finished the year 22-8 and ranked 57th in the world.
She debuted at many of the bigger WTA tournaments the next year, reaching the fourth round at Miami, the quarterfinals at Berlin (upsetting Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the process) and the third round of the French Open. Her first Wimbledon was a particularly memorable fortnight. Ranked 42nd heading in, she upset No. 10 Anke Huber in the third round and No. 5 Iva Majoli in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 1 Martina Hingis in the semifinals. She moved up to 26th following Wimbledon and ended the year 32nd with a 17-10 mark.
Kournikova took a giant step forward in terms of consistency in 1998, finishing 40-19 on the season and ranked No. 13. She reached the finals at Miami by defeating No. 4 Monica Seles, No. 9 Conchita Martinez, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and No. 8 Sanchez-Vicario before falling to Venus Williams in the final. The run sent her surging from 25th to 16th in the rankings, a new career best. She reached the quarterfinals at the Italian Open, the semifinals at Berlin, which included a win over No. 1 Hingis, and the fourth round of the French and US Opens.
In 1999, Kournikova finished in the Top 15 for a second straight year, going 35-19 overall. She lost the final at Hilton Head to Hingis, whom she had earlier teamed up with to win the Australian Open doubles crown, and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. She and Hingis came into the Australian Open doubles field ranked 13th but as the No. 3 seed. They defeated the No. 2 seed in the semifinals, and took out the No. 1 team in the final for the Grand Slam title. In 2000, Kournikova enjoyed her best-ever singles campaign, finishing eighth overall with a 47-29 record. She reached the semifinals at Sydney, Paris, Scottsdale, Stanford, San Diego, Luxembourg and Leipzig, and the finals at Moscow, again falling to Hingis.
While Hingis and Kournikova would be fast friends on the doubles court, Kournikova went just 1-11 against her Swiss equivalent during their singles' tenures.
Kournikova's 2001 season was shortened by injury, with a left foot stress fracture pulling her out of 12 tournaments, including the French Open and Wimbledon. She started the season by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time, but most of the rest of the season was lost as she went just 10-10 and finished ranked 74th.
She bounced back nicely in 2002, teaming with Hingis to win the Australian Open doubles crown again. As a singles player, she went 28-24 to finish 35th in the world, reaching the final at Shanghai and the semifinals at San Diego, Tokyo, Auckland and Acapulco.
The injuries caught up with Kournikova again in 2003, as a sprained back and other injuries saw her miss most of the season, dropping her out of the Top 300, and finishing her days on the professional tour.
Year-End Singles Rankings: 1995 - 281st; 1996 - 57th; 1997 - 32nd; 1998 - 13th; 1999 - 12th; 2000 - 8th; 2001 - 74th; 2002 -35th; 2003 - 305th.
Grand Slam Titles Won (2)
Doubles (2): Australian Open 1999, 2002.
Personal
Named to People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" list in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003. Has a long-term relationship with singer Enrique Iglesias, and has appeared in a music video with him, as well as the 2000 Jim Carrey film "Me, Myself & Irene."
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