Anna Kournikova Trivia
Nickname: Murzik ("my little pet" in Russian)
Trade mark: Long blonde hair
Is an only child
Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 1998
Collects dolls from every country she visits
Graduated from a Russian high school in 1997, and has attended Physical Culture Russian University since 1997
Dated NHL hockey player Pavel Bure and was married to NHL star Sergei Federov
2002: Appears in the new Enrique Iglesias video "Escape" and is currently dating Enrique
Her fastest serve was clocked at 111.2 mph during the Paris Indoors of 1998.
May 2002: has been voted "sexiest woman in the world" in the magazine "FHM" (Australian version).
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]
Semifinalist at 2000 Sydney with wins over Sabine Appelmans, Jennifer Capriati and Alexandra Stevenson.
En route to a fourth round showing at the 2000 Australian Open, scored her first "double bagel" on the pro tour in the first round, winning 6-0, 6-0 over Patricia Wartusch; also won the first five games in her second match; was a semifinalist in both women's and mixed doubles.
Semifinalist at 2000 Paris Indoors, where she led Nathalie Tauziat 4-2 in the final set before falling; following the tournament, reentered the world's Top 10 rankings at a career high No. 9; reached third semifinal of 2000 at Scottsdale.
Stretched world No. 2 Martina Hingis to three sets in the quarterfinals of 2000 Hamburg, and won the doubles title.
Tore a ligament in left ankle in second-round match at the 2000 German Open in May.
Upset 10th-ranked Sandrine Testud in first round at 2000 Wimbledon, and reached the doubles semifinals.
Ranked 19th, reached fourth semifinal of 2000 at Stanford with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 11 Sandrine Testud before falling to No. 3 and eventual champion Venus Williams 6-4, 7-5.
Eliminated second seed, world-ranked No. 8 Nathalie Tauziat 6-2, 6-1 at 2000 Moscow to reach third career Tier I final, falling to world No. 1 Martina Hingis; ranking moved back into the world's Top 10 at No. 10; the win over Tauziat was her fourth over a Top 10 player in 2000; also reached the doubles final but lost in a third-set tie-break.
Ousted world No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and No. 8 Nathalie Tauziat (her first win over her in four meetings) en route to fifth semifinal of 2000 in San Diego and recorded her second and third wins over Top 10 players in 2000, and reached the doubles final with Davenport where they lost to top seeds Raymond/Stubbs in a third-set tie-break.
Has qualified for the season-ending Chase Championships in both singles and doubles 1998-2000, winning the doubles title in 1999 and 2000 with Martina Hingis; in 2000, reached the singles semifinal after upsetting fifth-ranked Conchita Martinez to end the season with a then-career high ranking of No. 8.
In just four tournaments in 2000 with partner Martina Hingis, won three and reached the final of a fourth to qualify for the season-ending Chase Championships, then won that as well for the second straight year.
In 1999, reached the fourth round in singles at all three Grand Slams she played, two Grand Slam doubles finals and one Grand Slam mixed doubles final.
Won first Grand Slam doubles title at the 1999 Australian Open with first-time partner Martina Hingis by upsetting the first and second seeds; also reached the fourth round in singles.
Reached first semifinal in eight months at 1999 Oklahoma City.
Reached second career final (both in Tier I events) at 1999 Hilton Head including wins over sixth seed Patty Schnyder and 12th seed Barbara Schett; playing against 18-year-old Martina Hingis in the final, they were the youngest players ever to meet in the final of this 23-year-old tournament with a combined age of 36 years, five months.
The week following her runner-up finish at 1999 Hilton Head, defeated world No. 2 Lindsay Davenport in Amelia Island for first win over a Top 10 player in 11 months, then defeated No. 10 Patty Schnyder in her next match to reach the semifinals.
Reached the fourth round in singles at 1999 Wimbledon and was runner-up in the mixed doubles, which she entered at the last minute with Jonas Bjorkman.
Suffered a stress fracture in right foot while practicing for the Canadian Open in early August 1999 and was off the tour for nearly three months, returning in Linz the last week of October; in second week back, defeated No. 14 Sandrine Testud to reach the quarterfinals in Leipzig before falling to eventual champion Nathalie Tauziat 7-6, 7-5.
Ended 1999 as the world's No. 1-ranked doubles player.
Defeated six players ranked among the world's Top 10 in 1998 and reached the Top 10 herself.
Ranked No. 25, defeated four Top 10 players in four days to reach first career final at 1998 Miami, a top-level event; began her run by defeating up-and-comer Mirjana Lucic, then ousted No. 4 Monica Seles, No. 9 Conchita Martinez, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and No. 8 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario to become the eighth player to consecutively defeat four Top 10 players on the Sanex WTA TOUR since 1975, and the first since 1987; fell in three sets to No. 11 Venus Williams in the final, and broke into the world's Top 20 rankings at No. 16.
Became the ninth-youngest player in the Open Era to defeat a reigning world No. 1 before her 17th birthday, upsetting Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals at the 1998 German Open; the defeat marked Hingis' first professional loss to a younger player; Kournikova also defeated No. 5 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the third round; ranking moved up to a then-career high No. 13.
Defeated Steffi Graf in the quarterfinals of 1998 Eastbourne; it was only Graf's third grass court loss in the 1990's; following tournament, debuted in the world's Top 10 rankings at No. 10; in a fall during the match, suffered torn ligaments in her right thumb and was forced to withdraw from her semifinal match and from Wimbledon the next week.
Won first Sanex WTA TOUR pro title in 1998 at the Princess Cup in Tokyo, winning the doubles crown with Monica Seles.
From the start of the 1997 season through October 18, 1998, did not lose to anyone ranked outside the world's Top 15; 22 of her 27 losses in that span were to players ranked in the Top 10.
In just her second year on the tour, defeated three Top 10 players in 1997 (No. 5 Iva Majoli, No. 6 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, and No. 10 Anke Huber).
In 1997, became the second woman in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in her career debut in the tournament (Chris Evert in 1972 is the other); upset fifth-ranked Iva Majoli in the quarterfinals and 10th-ranked Anke Huber in the third round; came back from match point down in the second round to defeat Barbara Rittner; prior to the tournament, she had never reached a semifinal on the Sanex WTA TOUR and had reached just one quarterfinal.
At age 14, became the youngest player to compete and win in Fed Cup competition in the first tie of 1996, helping Russia defeat Sweden 3-0.
Recipient of 1999 Sanex WTA TOUR Doubles Team of the Year Award with Martina Hingis and 1996 Sanex WTA TOUR Most Impressive Newcomer Award.
In 2000, one of five female tennis players named to the Forbes magazine Power 100 in Fame and Fortune list at No. 58; no other female athletes made the list.
In junior competition, ended 1995 as the ITF Junior World Champion ranked No. 1; won the 1995 Orange Bowl 18s, the 1995 European Championships 18s and the 1995 Italian Open; was 1995 Wimbledon semifinalist and 1995 Roland Garros quarterfinalist.
Selected to the 1998 People Magazine "50 Most Beautiful People" list, one of only two athletes to make the list.
First coach in Russia was Larisa Preobrazhenskaya; moved to Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, in February of 1992 with her mother and stayed until moving to Miami in 1997.
All-court style of game.
Began playing tennis at age 5 with friends in a weekly children's sports program.