Anna Kournikova (born June 7, 1981 in Moscow) is a Russian tennis player, professional
1995-2003.
Coached Florida center by Nick Bollettieri, like his idol, Monica Seles, Kournikova rapidly obtained excellent results in the junior, becoming world champion in singles in 1995. At fourteen, she played in the Russian team for Fed Cup, a record of precocity.
In 1997, when she was only sixteen, she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon. The following year she made her entrance into the global top ten and competed in the final tournament in Key Biscayne, one of the most important events after the lifting of the Grand Slam.
Kournikova pass a psychological course in May 1998 on the eve of Roland Garros by defeating for the first time Martina Hingis in Berlin. Later, when she beat Steffi Graf just on the grass of Eastbourne, she falls and breaks his thumb.
This wound, rather light, has a considerable impact on the rest of his career. Unable to train for several months at the request of sponsors and a taste for the jet set, Kournikova, drawing on its plastic advantageously multiplies the advertising campaigns, photos of charm, worldliness and television studios.
recovered, she knows the end of 1998 wholesale service problems: forced to change his racquet after making his recovery, she can not find good feelings and connects on a double fault double fault, especially when Masters in November. Kournikova, who earns more money from advertising that its contracts with athletic performance is severely ridiculed by the media and some players, seeing also criticized for not having won any singles title on the circuit WTA.
Kournikova is recovering well in 1999 (final at Hilton Head, semifinals in Oklahoma City, Amelia Island, Eastbourne).
In 2000, not yet shine in any of the four Majors, she signed the best season of his career (a final in Moscow, eight semi-finals) and ends on 20 November to 8th place worldwide.
She reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in 2001. This is his last good result. In February, an injury of the foot fatigue is again far short until August. Faced with pressure from the media and poorly delivered, Anna Kournikova starts to lose gradually, as his game at high risk, sometimes compared to that of Pam Shriver, becomes less effective, knocking her flat not offering him a lot of security in situations stress. She added since the Performance-cons, when it does not declare packages at the last moment.
In 2002, she performed poorly. Removed eleven times in the first round, including the four Grand Slams, she reached one final in the China Open, beaten by Anna Smashnova dryly. The first
half of 2003 proved a complete fiasco: with five losses for a win, downshifts quickly to 67th place worldwide. She tries to revive the occasion of two ITF challengers in May, again without success. She has officially been replayed more.
On July 24, 2006, during a press conference, said Kournikova hesitation about his future and said she could very well resume his career. She also refuses to announce his retirement for failing to reverse its decision, as have other athletes have done (Hingis, for example).
If she has never actually won in singles, Anna Kournikova has nevertheless imposed to sixteen times in women's doubles, including twice at the Australian Open in 1999 and 2002 ( whenever alongside Hingis). She was world number one Discipline November 22, 1999, ranking it has held ten weeks.
In a ranking published in 2004, journalists from ESPN elected Anna Kournikova the 18th among the 25 biggest flops in sports history since 1979.
Source : Wikipedia
