Anna Kournikova

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 singles tournament, her celebrity made her 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 in the former Soviet Union to Alla and Sergei Kournikov; she and her mother later emigrated to the United States. Currently, she resides in Miami Beach, 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.

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.

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". Kournikova was also ranked #1 in the ESPN Classic series "Who's number 1?" when the series featured sports most overrated athletes.

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