Name: Anna Kournikova

Age: 18

Height: 170 centimetres (5'8")

Weight: 55 kg (123 lbs)

Date Of Birth: June 7, 1981

Place Of Birth: Moscow, Russia

Lives: Miami, Florida, USA

Coach: Pavel Slozil

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.

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,
highlighted by a semi-final appearance at her first Wimbledon as a
professional. In 1998 she further surged up the rankings, with the highlight
being an appearance in the final of the prestigious Lipton Championships,
defeating four top 10 players consecutively along the way. Soon after, she
scored her first victory over world number 1 Hingis, and just prior to
Wimbledon 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 defeated
Graf) ruled her out of tournaments for the next few months, and she has
since had a tough time regaining her momentum. 1999 began with a
controversial 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 lists
Graf and Seles as players she has learnt from, watching television. Now
at 18 years of age, she is developing her power game and exhibiting
some fearful groundstrokes coupled with superb court mentality.

Anna 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.
She is currently on the verge of the world Top 10, and others forsee
her and Hingis (along with the Williams sisters) battling it out for world
number 1 in the not-too-distant future. Regardless, Anna Kournikova
will play a great role in the future of women's tennis.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

SINGLES WINNER:

1996 - ITF/Midland-Michigan, USA, ITF/Rockford-Illinois,
USA

FINALIST (1):

1998 - Lipton

SEMIFINALIST (5):

1999 - Oklahoma City
1998 - Hannover, German Open, Eastbourne
1997 - Wimbledon

QUARTERFINALIST (6):

1999 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific]
1998 - Linz, Amelia Island, Italian Open, Tokyo [Toyota]
1997 - German Open

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS - DOUBLES WINNER (2):

1999 - Australian Open (w/Hingis)
1998 - Tokyo [Toyota] (w/Seles)

FINALIST(4):

1998 - Paris Indoors (w/Neiland), Linz (w/Neiland), Filderstadt (w/Sanchez-Vicario),                                                        1995 - Moscow (w/Olsza)

SEMIFINALIST(8):

1999 - Oklahoma City (w/de Swardt)
1998 - Roland Garros (w/Neiland), Amelia Island (w/Neiland), German Open (w/Neiland), Moscow (w/Seles)
1997 - Italian Open (w/Likhovtseva), Los Angeles (w/Sugiyama)
1996 - Moscow (w/Coetzer)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS - MIXED DOUBLES
SEMIFINALIST (1):

1997 - Australian Open (w/Knowles)

QUARTERFINALIST (1):

1997 - Roland Garros (w/Knowles)

ADDITIONAL:

Russian Fed Cup Team 1996. Russian Olympic Team 1996

FACTS & FIGURES

* Won her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 Australian
Open, winning the doubles title with first-time partner
Martina Hingis by upsetting the first and second seeds
also reached the fourth round in singles
* Reached her first semifinal in eight months at 1999
Oklahoma City
* Ended a successful 1998 by qualifying for the
season-ending Chase Championships in both singles and
doubles, as one of the year's top 16 singles players and
top eight doubles teams with Larisa Neiland
* 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 her first career final at 1998 Lipton, 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 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
(starting 1968) 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 forced to withdraw from her semifinal
match and from Wimbledon the next week
* Returned to action from injury in August 1998 at the
Canadian Open, reaching the third round
* In 1998, was the first Russian woman to be seeded at
the US Open since 1976
* Upset No. 11 Iva Majoli to reach the quarterfinals of the
1998 Italian Open
* In third round of 1998 Australian Open, stretched world
No. 1 Martina Hingis to three sets before falling 6-4, 4-6,
6-4
* Won first WTA TOUR professional title in 1998 at the
Princess Cup in Tokyo, winning the doubles crown with
Monica Seles
* Extended world No. 1 Martina Hingis to three sets at
1998 Filderstadt, and reached her second consecutive
doubles final
* Served the ninth-fastest serve on the Tour in 1998 at the
Paris Indoors, 111.2 miles per hour (179 Km/h)
* 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 WTA TOUR and had reached just one
quarterfinal; world ranking moved up to a then-career high
No. 25
* Collected first win over a Top 10 player with win over No.
6 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario at 1997 Berlin
* Playing in just her second WTA TOUR main draw event
and first Grand Slam tournament, reached the fourth
round at the 1996 US Open with a stadium court victory
over 14th seed Barbara Paulus
* As a wi ldcard ranked 84th, defeated 13th-ranked
Amanda Coetzer in first round of 1996 Zurich
defeated Coetzer again at 1997 Lipton, avenging a loss
to Coetzer two months earlier in the Australian Open
* 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
* As a qualifier, won her first professional title at a 1996
ITF Women's Circuit satellite event in Midland, Michigan,
USA:
after winning the tournament, flew to Oklahoma City in
time to win her first-round qualifying match the same day
* Finalist for the 1998 WTA TOUR Most Improved Player
award
* Named the 1996 COREL WTA TOUR Most Impressive
Newcomer
* In junior competition, ended 1995 as the ITF Junior
World Champion ranked No. 1
won the 1995 Orange Bowl 18s
1995 European Championships 18s winner
1995 Italian Open juniors winner
1995 Wimbledon juniors semifinalist
1995 French Open juniors quarterfinalist
* Selected to the 1998 People Magazine "50 Most
Beautiful People" list, one of only two athletes to make
the list
* Coached by Pavel Slozil since January 1998
* 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

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