Anna Kournikova

Anna Kournikova is a former professional tennis player from Russia who achieved fame with her early career success and good looks.

Born in Russia in 1981, Anna Kournikova moved to the United States at age 10 to pursue professional tennis. She advanced to the 1997 Wimbledon semifinals, and won a pair of Grand Slam doubles titles, but despite her early promise she never won a WTA title. Known for her beauty, Kournikova has also enjoyed a successful modeling career, and served as a trainer for a season on The Biggest Loser.

Tennis player Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova was born on June 7, 1981, in Moscow, Russia. The daughter of Alla and Sergei Kournikov, Anna began playing tennis at age 5. She was competing in the juniors a few years later, and at age 10 she headed to the United States to train at Nick Bollettieri's famed Florida tennis academy. Kournikova subsequently won several international junior tennis tournaments, and was declared the ITF Junior World Champion in 1995.

Kournikova displayed impressive form in her matches soon after turning professional in 1995. She reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open at age 15 in 1996, and the following year she advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon. Kournikova also paired with Swiss star Martina Hingis to win the Australian Open doubles championship in 1999 and 2002. However, although she showed flashes of brilliance against some of her top-ranked peers, Kournikova never won a WTA title. She reached the finals of four tournaments, and achieved a career-high ranking of No. 8 in 2000.

Despite her lack of significant victories in singles play, Kournikova's fame grew steadily thanks to her modeling career and publicity surrounding her personal life. This media attention often focused on romantic liaisons with such celebrities as pop star Enrique Iglesias and hockey player Sergei Fedorov. She also attempted a career in acting, appearing briefly in the 2000 comedy Me, Myself & Irene.

Hampered by injuries, Kournikova played her last official WTA match in early 2003, though she continued to compete in exhibition matches and on the World TeamTennis circuit. She also served as a trainer on Season 12 of The Biggest Loser, which aired in 2011.

In 1991, Anna was playing in a junior tournament when an International Management Group (IMG) agent named Paul Theofanous witnessed her performance. Realizing her potentiality, Theofanus offered her to sign contract with the group, thus in the following year, accompanied by her mother Alla Kournikov, Anna headed to Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, U.S. It took only two years for Anna to prove her gifted ability as she won some "18's" tournaments, the tennis competition for players at age 18 or younger. She continued scoring more triumphs during 1995, winning Orange Bowl, Italian Open Junior, and Junior European Championships, marking the year by being the ITF Junior World Champion.

Her decision to advance as a professional player in 1996 only showed a clear evidence of her true proficiency for she became the winner of ITF Women's Circuit Satellite event in Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Midland, Michigan, U.S. Furthermore, she made instantly from 299th to 56th by the end of the year, leading her to earn Sanex WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer Award.

In 1997, Anna failed to gain any trophies, yet she was noted due to her accomplishment to enter at least the tournaments' quarterfinals. She proceeded to the semi-finals at Wimbledon, then reached 4th round in German Open, and went to final of A&P Classic. Despite a repeated winning absence in the following year, Anna was at her best performance since she wiped out 4 top ten players at Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, FL, namely Monica Seles, Conchita Martinez, Lindsay Davenport, and Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario. In the same year she decided to change her tennis instructor, Nick Bolletieri with Pavel Slozil who previously trained Steffi Graf and Jennifer Capriati.

. Anna's WTA Tour rank rose magnificently when she crushed Graf in the quarterfinal of the Eastbourne Tournament in 1998, bringing her name to be included in the top ten ranks for the first time. After a nearly two years working hard to win, she finally could experience the joy of winning, once more in woman doubles championship at the Princess Cup in Tokyo, together with Monica Seles. Partnering with Martina Hingis, she made another victory; this time earned her first Grand Slam title as she won over Jana Novotna-Monica Seles at Australian Open in January 1999. Throughout this year, she and Martina had won 9 doubles titles, including Italian Open and WTA Championship. This accomplishment led Anna to be in the top rank of double player in WTA along with the title of ITF World Doubles Champions.

In 2000, Anna's star glowed brighter as she reached a culmination in her career, achieving 8th rank in single player and won 6 more doubles titles. This glorious moment, unfortunately, did not last long enough for Anna experienced stress fracture on her left feet in early 2001, forcing her to withdraw from any tournaments. She then turned her attention to acting for a while, taking a minor part in "Me, Myself, & Irene being in the same scene with famous actor Jim Carrey. Due to her absence from tennis, her rank dropped heavily to 71st by 2002. After having recovered, Anna came back with the support of her new coach, Harold Solomon, and succeeded in raising her rank up to the 35th. A terrible injury once more has troubled Anna in 2003, happening at her lower back, which was also known as back strain, so that she was unable to participate in the major tennis competition during the year.

Being far away from the tournaments' courts, Anna developed her career in the entertainment industry. Although she still could be seen in the exhibition matches, her news might easily be found in the entertainment columns than in sport features. Her look was also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Maxim Magazine, both for two times, making her more popular as a celebrity. People Magazine even included her in its list of 50 Most Beautiful People in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003. After becoming an on-site reporter of 2003 U.S. Open under U.S. networks, she accompanied her sweetheart, Enrique Iglesias who is a well-known Latin singer, to Australia during his "Seven" tour. This couple first met at the video making of Enrique's "Escape" in 2002 and had been seen being together ever since for Anna has ended her relationship with Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov.

At the beginning of 2004, Anna was stricken by an awful occurrence as an obsessive fan named William Lepeska attempted to infiltrate her residence at Sunset Island, Miami. Lepeska, who previously being sentenced for stabbing a man in a university coffeehouse, has been placed in a psychiatric unit at Miami-Dade County Jail, awaiting the trial after he was charged of conducting the stalking, burglary, and assault toward her. This incident was followed by the internal dispute as her parents sued Anna for taking over the house which has been bought jointly. Anna counter-sued her parents afterwards, intending to remove her parents' name from the certificate of the property. Waiting for the judges' result, she continued her celebrity activities, opening Adidas store in 2005 while also enjoying her new fitness role.