If you ask a foreigner to name a Russian tennis player, you are likely to hear two names - Sharapova and Kournikova. And it is not surprising. Both blondes have provided an immeasurable contribution to the history of court tennis. Recently we talked about Maria Sharapova, and today we will talk about her antipode - Anna Kournikova.
Bet on tennis with 1xBetMetaratings.ru will tell you about the difficult sports journey of the former world's No.1 and the wife of singer Enrique Iglesias.
Kournikova moved to the USA at the age of 10
Anna was born on June 7, 1981 in Moscow. Her parents were athletes. Her father was keen on wrestling, and her mother worked as a tennis coach. That's why the 5-year-old girl was introduced to this sport. In two years she became one of the most promising students of Spartak tennis club.
In 1991 Anya moved to America together with her mom in order to train with the best world masters. That's when she fell in love with her new country. Later the tennis player received American citizenship.
Her achievements in lawn tennis
Despite moving to the U.S., Anna began to play for the Russian national team. In 1995, the girl won the Orange Bowl tournament and several European championships. This placed her at the top of the junior rankings. In the same year the tennis player won the Fed Cup.
In 1996 Kournikova was recognized as the best newcomer of the WTA. That same year the tennis player played in the Atlanta Olympics, thus becoming the youngest Russian participant (15 years old).
In 1998, Anna had a real breakthrough, defeating Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport. Thanks to those victories, she became one of the 20 strongest tennis players in the world.
Just one year later, Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis paired up and won the Australian Open, as well as the WTA Finals. Thus, the tennis players took the lead in the doubles ranking and became the world's No.1. Between 1999 and 2003, they won a total of two WTA tournaments and had the same number of Grand Slam victories.
But Kournikova did not win a single major tournament in singles despite her success with Hingis. The Russian officially retired from sports in 2003 to pursue personal life goals and a modeling career.
She has done shoots for international clothing and watch brands
After leaving court tennis, Kournikova started a modeling career. She has been featured in various music videos, films, shows and photo shoots for brands such as Adidas and Berlei, Omega and Lycos, Wrangler, Rolex and Yonex. She has also participated in a number of charity tennis tournaments.
From 1998 to 2003, Kournikova was among the top 50 most beautiful people in the world according to People magazine. And in 2002, FHM magazine recognized the Russian woman as the hottest woman on the planet.
Bet on tennis with 1xBetRomance with Bure and love with Iglesias
Anna Kournikova had several stormy affairs with famous people, including hockey players Sergey Fedorov and Pavel Bure. She was engaged to each of them as they dated, but they never made it to the marriage registry office.
In 2001, Anna met Enrique Iglesias on the set of filming the "Escape" music video. It was love at first sight. The tennis player and the singer began an affair, and soon the couple decided to live together. In December 2017, Anna gave birth to twins: her son Nicholas and daughter Lucy. And in January 2020, their daughter Maria was born.
Now Anna Kournikova and Enrique Iglesias live in the United States with their three children, in an estate in Bay Point city - a real cluster of millionaires and celebrities, including Cher, Ricky Martin and Matt Damon.
The tennis player periodically shares details of her personal life on social media. Her blog has 1.8 million subscribers. The account is mainly cute pictures of her children and husband.