Born in Moscow, Anna Kournikova learned to play tennis when at age seven, her father began teaching her on a daily basis. At eleven, Anna and her mother later migrated to the United States where she began training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Anna was soon to became one of the best known tennis players worldwide with her specialty being in doubles, where she had at times been the world's No.1 doubles player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won 16 doubles titles including the Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002.
With nagging back injuries Anna made her final appearance on the professional circuit in 2003 and underwent back surgery. Despite her absence from the pro circuit, her star continues to shine as with her stunning good looks, Anna ventured into modeling and garnered lucrative endorsement deals and while she no longer plays tennis for a living, she is a regular participant in many exhibition and charity events for good causes.
Anna Kournikova has been an ambassador for OMEGA since September 2000. Always presentable and being naturally at ease, both in company and in front of the camera, she slips readily into her role as brand ambassador for OMEGA
and has appeared at numerous OMEGA-events all over the world
beginning with Hong Kong in 2001 and various locations in the Far East to St Moritz, New York, Berlin, Mexico City and more recently Valencia, in support of fellow OMEGA Ambassador Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand.
"I found my first racquets under the Christmas tree," Anna recalls, "but I found out later that my parents sold one of their TVs to get me those racquets."
Before moving to the United States, Anna was a member of the prestigious Spartak Tennis Club, coached by the husband of Russian pro Olga Morozova.
Nick Bollettieri had this to say of her - "Anna is a shotmaker. She has the ability to create situations on the court that very few people can create. And at the net she's brilliant. She hits volleys from all angles. The only person I could compare her to is John McEnroe."
At 14, Anna become the youngest player ever to win a Fed Cup match and captured the European Championships and Italian Open juniors. At the close of 1995, she was ranked No. 1 and crowned as ITF Junior World Champion.
After a promising start to her career, she never won a pro singles tournament but managed a consistent top-20 ranking Her best ranking in tennis was number 8 in the world in 2000
"She's a gorgeous young woman who's very fit and works hard at her profession and is in the top ten in the world," says 18-time-Grand-Slam winner Chris Evert. "I think she's good for tennis."
Indeed, her playing style fits the profile for a doubles player, and is complemented by her height. Anna has been compared to such players as Pam Shriver and Peter Fleming who were very successful exponents of the doubles game
In September of 2003, she sustained an injury to her lower back and worked as an on-site reporter for the U.S. networks coverage of the U.S. Open. But, as of March 2004, Anna retired from professional tennis due to chronic lower back trouble
Since her retirement from the professional circuit, Anna has played tennis in support of various good causes ranging from AIDS foundation to Tsunami Relief, from assistance in respect of relief from Hurricane Katrina to hospitals and childrens’ charities
Anna assisted in the design of the OMEGA Constellation Bangle watch which she presented to Nicolas Hayek at the launch of two new ladies collections at OMEGA’s flagship store in Switzerland in September 2001
Pictures - omegawatches.com
100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3