'''Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova''' (Russian: '''Анна Сергеевна Курникова''' (), ''Ánna Sergéyevna Kúrnikova;'' born June 7, 1981) is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Gaining renown more for her beauty and waist-length blonde hair than for her tennis game, she became one of the best known tennis players worldwide, even among those who do not follow the game. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of her made "anna+kournikova" (or misspellings of it) one of the most common search strings on Google.http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html
An only child, she was born in Moscow, Soviet Union to Alla and Sergei Kournikov; her family later emigrated to the United States. Presently, she resides in Miami, Florida.
Kournikova's major-league tennis career has been curtailed for the past several years, and possibly ended, by serious back and spinal problems. She has had some success at the singles game, but her specialty has been doubles, where she has at times been the world's #1 doubles player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002.
Kournikova's playing style fits the profile for a doubles player, and is complemented by her height. She has been compared to such players as Pam Shriver and Peter Fleming. Based on their supermodel looks, Hingis and Kournikova facetiously referred to themselves as the "Spice Girls of Tennis".
Tennis career
thumb|left|Kournikova follows through on a two-hand backhand.
At ages 13 and 14, Kournikova made headlines in international junior tennis, winning several tournaments including the 1995 Italian Open. She was 14 years old when she ended 1995 as Junior European Champion Under 18 and ITF Junior World Champion Under 18.
Kournikova debuted in professional tennis at age 14 in the Fed Cup for Russia, the youngest player ever to participate and win. At age 15, she reached the fourth round of the 1996 U.S. Open, only to be stopped by then-top ranked player, Steffi Graf.
Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1997, as a 16-year-old, she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon, where she lost to the eventual champion, Martina Hingis by a score of 6-3, 6-2. 1998 was her breakthrough year, when she broke into the WTA's top 20 rankings for the first time and scored impressive victories over Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Steffi Graf. Kournikova's two Grand Slam doubles titles came in 1999 and 2002, both at the Australian Open in the Women's Doubles event with partner Martina Hingis, with whom she played frequently starting in 1999.
Kournikova proved a successful doubles player on the professional circuit,
