anna kournikova biography profile trivia

• Name : Anna Kournikova
• Date of Birth : June 7, 1981
• Place of Birth : Moscow, Russia
• Sign : Sun in Gemini, Moon in Leo
• Height : 5' 8''
• Weight : 123 lbs.
• Measurements at 2004: 32B - 24 - 34
• Lives : Miami, Florida, USA
• Profession : Tennis Player
• Fan Mail :

Anna Kournikova
c/o Bollettieri Tennis

Academy 5500 34th St.
West Bradenton, FL 34210 USA

anna kournikova biography

Russian-born Anna Kournikova left Moscow at the age of 9 to come to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida, USA - the same academywhich has also produced Monica Seles and Andre Agassi.She was the world's topped-ranked junior at the end of 1995, shortlyafter Martina Hingis joined the professional ranks. Kournikova herselfturned professional in 1996, and competed in her first grand slam at theUS Open that year. She performed exceptionally well, defeating seededplayers before finally falling to eventual champion Steffi Graf in the4th round.

In 1997, she affirmed her position amongst the world's top players,highlighted by a semi-final appearance at her first Wimbledon as aprofessional. In 1998 she further surged up the rankings, with the highlightbeing an appearance in the final of the prestigious Lipton Championships,defeating four top 10 players consecutively along the way. Soon after, shescored her first victory over world number 1 Hingis, and just prior toWimbledon she broke into the world Top 10 for the first time in her career.A thumb injury before Wimbledon (suffered in a match where she defeatedGraf) ruled her out of tournaments for the next few months, and she hassince had a tough time regaining her momentum. 1999 began with acontroversial Australian Open, her play marred by poor form with her service.However, she did manage to make the 4th round in singles (her best result)as well as winning the doubles championships with Hingis as her partner.

Anna says her game wasn't modelled after any one player, although listsGraf and Seles as players she has learnt from, watching television. Nowat 18 years of age, she is developing her power game and exhibitingsome fearful groundstrokes coupled with superb court mentality.Anna is indeed superstar material, with glamourous looks (she says ifnot for tennis, her passion would be acting) and an aggressive all-courtgame to match. In fact, she has had an agent since the age of 10.She is currently on the verge of the world Top 10, and others forseeher and Hingis (along with the Williams sisters) battling it out for worldnumber 1 in the not-too-distant future. Regardless, Anna Kournikovawill play a great role in the future of women's tennis.

Anna Kournikova Trivia

• Is the only child to her parents.
• Ex-tennis player.
• Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 1998.
• Graduated from a Russian high school in 1997, and has attended Russian University of Physical Culture since 1997.
• Dated Pavel Bure and childhood sweetheart Sergei Fedorov at the same time. Fedorov told The Hockey News that he and Kournikova had secretly married in July 2001, but were divorced shortly thereafter; Kournikova has never confirmed this.
• 2002: Appears in the new Enrique Iglesias video "Escape".
• # Her fastest serve was clocked at 111.2 mph during the Paris Indoors of 1998.
• # May 2002: has been voted "the sexiest woman in the world" in the magazine "FHM" (Australian version).
• Has never won a major tennis tournament, as of January 2004.
• It is announced that Kournikova was voted the Sexiest Woman in the World in FHM's 100 Sexiest Girls poll for 2002, American edition. [May 2002]
• Knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round. [June 2002]
• Ranked 299th in the world (as of October 2003).
• Has a tattoo of a sun design on her lower back, which made its "debut" at the 2003 Australian Open. Oddly, she denied having it, telling reporters that it was actually a heat patch to treat back pain.
• Sold her Miami Beach condo at Portofino Tower to Sergei Fedorov for $1.63 million (December 2003).
• In February 2001, the Anna Kournikova Virus was released. Within a few hours of its distribution anti-virus vendors received thousands of reports. However, investigators were only able to list 55 incidents of infection, causing just $166,827 worth of damage. On 27 September 2001, a Dutch court gave the virus's author, Jan De Wit, the choice of 150 hours community service or 75 days in jail.
• Her favorite food is Sushi.
• Voted as #9 on the Top 100 Sexiest Women 2004 in FHM [DK].
• Her best ranking in tennis was number 8 in the world (2000).
• Career best Grand Slam tournament singles results: Australian Open quarterfinals in 2001, French Open 4th round in 1998 and 1999, Wimbledon semifinals in 1997, U.S. Open 4th round in 1996 and 1998.
• Named #29 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
• Ranked as #62 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)

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serena williams biography

Date of Birth
26 September 1981, Saginaw, Michigan, USA

Birth Name
Serena Jameka Williams

Height
5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

Serena Williams, currently the #7 female tennis player in the world, has always maintained a level of interest. She earned her first grand slam singles title at the U.S. Open back in 1999, and currently rode a string of four straight grand slam singles title wins - the 2002 French, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open titles, and the 2003 Australian Open title, all achieved by defeating her older sister, Venus. A knee injury in 2003 forced her to sit out 8 months of tennis competition. She reached the Wimbledon final in 2004, but has not won a major title since the summer of 2003. As of late, Serena has taken a stab at acting, appearing in guest roles on both "The Simpsons" (1989) and "My Wife and Kids" (2001). More roles are likely to follow. Serena was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard and Oracene Williams (now divorced). The youngest of five girls, Serena grew up with Venus and older sisters Lyndrea, Isha & Yetunde. She was born in 1981. Eldest sister Yetunde Price was murdered in Los Angeles, California in the fall of 2003.

Trivia

Beat her older sister Venus to win the 2002 French Open, 2002 Wimbledon, 2002 US Open & the 2003 Australian Open. By doing so, she joined Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Margaret Court, and Maureen Connolly as the only women to have won four Grand Slam titles in a row.

Was the 1999 US Open champion

Is the youngest of 5 girls

Her other sisters are Lyndrea, Isha & Yetunde

Parents are Richard & Oracene (divorced)

Dad Richard is her coach

Won the 2000 Olympics doubles competition with her sister Venus

Her scenes of her first movie "Black Knight" were cut.

Among her pets was a Yorkshire by the name of Petey (Named after one of her tennis heros Pete Sampras), Jackie the Jack Russell Terrier; and Bambi the pitbull.

Sister of Venus Williams.

Elder sister Yetunde Price was murdered in Compton, California in Fall of 2003

Born on the same day as actress Christina Milian.

On 25 January 2003, she won the Australian Open tennis championship, completing the 'grand slam' of women's tennis. "The Serena Slam Completed" was ranked #10 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Most Awesome Sports Moments (of the last 15 years)". [17 July 2005 issue]

She is a certified Fashion Designer and has her own clothing line called "Aneres" which is her name spelled backwards.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated her earnings for the year at $14 million.

Personal Quotes

"I'm afraid I'm already a shopaholic. Fortunately, I'm no longer in denial, and the first step to recovering is getting out of denial."

"I've always said that I'm insatiable."

"I could lose 20 pounds and I'm still going to have these knockers and I'm going to have this ass, and that's just the way it is." addressing her fitness level after winning the 2007 Australian Open


Where Are They Now

(February 2004) Has dropped to #6 in the rankings. Has not played in a tennis tournament since July, 2003. She dropped off the tour due to knee injuries, but despite her recent announcement that she is healthy and fit she decided to withdraw from the Australian Open grand slam competition (where she is defending champion) as she continues to pursue TV and film appearances.

(March 2007) Recently won the Sony Ericsson Open for the 4th time in her career. Crushed the tournament's top seed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-1 in the 4th round after Sharapova had defeated older sister Venus Williams. Made a dramatic comeback in the final against newly crowned world number one Justin Henin. Defeated Henin 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the final. Continues her remarkable comeback to the top of the tennis rankings. Ascended from 95 in the world last year to number 11 by winning the two biggest titles of the year so far.

(January 2007) Reestablished herself as the dominant force in women's tennis by winning the Australian Open for the 3rd time. Dominated the world's top ranked player Maria Sharapova in the final 6-1, 6-2 to win her 8th major championship title.

(September 2006) Unable to defend Australian Open title (lost in the third round). Missed the French Open and Wimbledon due to injuries and attempted a comeback at the US Open but lost in the 4th round. Only competed in 4 tournaments in 2006. Ranking has dropped to 95 in the world.

(January 2005) Recently won her 7th major title at the Australian Open Came back from match points down to defeat reigning Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in the semifinals then went on to defeat top seed Lindsay Davenport in the final.