Although she reached Number 8 in the world in singles and was a superb doubles player reaching No 1 with her partner Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova has always been more famous for her looks and personal life than she was for her tennis.
| Birthdate: | 7-June-81 |
|---|---|
| Birthplace: | Moscow Russia |
| Height: | 5 ft 7 1/2 in |
| Plays: | Right-Handed |
| Turned Pro: | October 1995 |
Even in her playing days she and Hingis attracted the media when they referred to themselves as “The Spice Girls of Tennis.”
Dating one of the biggest pop stars in the business Enrico Iglesias who calls her “his dream woman” was bound to attract publicity and the rumors that have circulated about their relationship have been going on since 2003. The couple has been dating since 2001 and two years later it was said they had secretly married, they started circulating again in 2007 but Kournikova has constantly refused to talk about her relationships.
In May 2007 Iglesias was quoted in the New York Sun as saying he had no intention of marrying the former Russian player and settling down because they had split up, but the singer later denied it. In June 2008 he told the Daily Star that they had married the previous year but were currently separated. Again Iglesias said this was a joke.
On The Graham Norton Show in 2010 Kournikova confirmed she and Iglesias had been together for over 8 years and we’re still together but had no plans to marry.
From the age of 15, her looks and personal life have attracted the attention of the press and her pictures have appeared in numerous magazines. In 2000 she became the new face of the Absorber Shock bras and photos of her scantily-clad form have appeared in various men’s’ magazines.
Never really taken seriously as a tennis player ESPN ranked her Number 18 in the 25 Biggest Sports Flops of the past 25 years and she was also ranked Number 1 in the ESPN Classic series “Who’s Number 1 when the series featured most overrated athletes.
Whatever she or her family do attract press attention. In June 2009 it was reported she was involved in a bar brawl in a Los Angeles nightclub after a woman threw a drink over her. She was partying with friends in the Lavo nightspot in Sin City when the woman took offense at the group’s behavior and felt Kournikova was invading her space. A fight ensued before the woman was thrown out.
In January 2010 her mother was arrested and charged with child neglect after her 5-year-old son fell from a second-story window whilst she was out. The boy was left bloodied and bruised after falling on to rocks and was found by a neighbor. Police found the doors to Alla Kournikova’s house locked and she told police she had gone out to run errands and the boy did not want to come.
Anna Kournikova’s parents were only 20 and 18 when she was born in Moscow on June 7th, 1981, her father Sergei was a former Greco-Russian wrestler, and her mother a former 400-meter runner so she was born into a sporting environment. It was a spinal injury that cut her tennis career short and she took up modeling.
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