Full name : Anna Kournikova
Date of birth : 7 june 1981
Place of Birth : Moscow, Russia
Parents : Mother Alla, father Sergei
Residence : South Beach, Florida
Height : 173 cm
Weight : 55 kg
Started tennis : At the age of 5
Coach : Pavel Slozl
Equipment : Yonex racquets, adidas shoes & clothes
Plays : Right handed (Two handed backhand)
Turned Pro : October 1995
Favourite City : Paris, France
Favourite Tour : French Open
Favourite Colour : Black
Hobbies : Likes to read, listen to music, watching TV, interested
in Ice-Hockey
Her story
She was the world's topped-ranked junior at the end of 1995, shortly
after Martina Hingis joined the professional ranks. Kournikova herself
turned professional in 1996, and competed in her first grand slam at the
US OPEN that year. She performed exceptionally well, defeating seeded players
before finally falling to eventual champion Steffi Graf in the 4th round.
In 1997, she affirmed her position amongst the world's top players, with
the highlight being a semi-final appearance at her first Wimbledon as a
professional.
Russian-born Anna Kournikova left Moscow at the age of 9 to come
to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida, USA - the same academy
which has also produced Monica Seles and Andre Agassi.
Kournikova says her game wasn't modelled after any one player, although
lists Graf and Seles as players she has learnt from, watching television.
At 16 years of age, she hasn't fully developed her power game yet, but
shows signs of things to come with some fearful groundstrokes coupled with
good court mentality.
Kournikova is indeed superstar material, with glamourous looks (she
says if not for tennis, her passion would be acting) and an aggressive
all-court game to match. In fact, she has had an agent since the age of
10. Currently ranked in the top 30, Coach Bollettieri predicts her to be
a future top 10 player, and still others forsee her and Hingis battling
it out for world number 1 in a few years to come. Regardless, Anna Kournikova
will play a great role in the future of women's tennis.
.