Childhood

Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova is a sports personality who achieved fame first as a tennis player. She was born in Moscow on June 7, 1981 to parents Alla and Sergei Kournikov.

Anna Kournikova's talent was first discovered when she played at a weekly children's sports program at the age of 5, thanks to the racket she received from her parents for Christmas.

Graduated from a Russian high school in 1997, and has attended Physical Culture Russian University since 1997.

She received her first tennis racquet at 5 years old when her parents sold their TV to buy her one for Christmas.

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.

When she turned pro in 1996, she stepped onto the scene as an ITF Junior World Champion.

 

Career

Anna won her first professional title in 1999 at Midland, Michigan, an ITF tournament. She was 5th favorite in Illinois the same year and won her 2nd career ITF tournament.

Kournikova made her WTA debut at 15 years old at the US Open where she finally lost against #1 player Steffi Graf. She also made it to the double quarter finals in the same tournament.

1998 was a big year for the blonde beauty: Anna became the first Russian female to be seeded at the U.S. Open since 1976, reached the Top 10 of the singles rankings, and upset Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals at the 1998 German Open.

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 tennis fans. Now she is perhaps more famous for her beauty than for her tennis skills