Anna Kournikova Biography
Sporting couple Sergei and Alla Kournikov had their daughter on June 7 1981in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union and they immediately named her Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova. She would grow up to be one of the most respected names in professional tennis with a string of top ten rankings the highest of this was the World No.1.
The Kournikov parents believed in the athletic lifestyle and they were quick to induct their daughter into it as soon as she could stand on her feet. Young Kournikova would often tag along to her parents training sessions which included her mother’s athletics and her father’s martial arts work outs. She however did not follow on in their specific footsteps instead opting for tennis at the age of five the motivation for this move was from a tennis racquet that was given as a birthday present.
For the first two years of the game Kournikova did not dream of pursuing it on a professional level until the age of seven when one of the players at her parent’s club asked if she could join the Spartak Tennis Club. Agreeing to this, Kournikova spent time in the prestigious club under the watchful eye of the best coaches in the game. By 1991 Kournikova had conquered all of her junior championships in the Soviet Union and the attention that came with the wins led to a move to Florida so as to continue coaching at the Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy.
Kournikova’s winning streak continued on in the US and in 1995 she finished in first place at the Italian Open Junior tournament and also at the European Championships. Following wins were at the ITF Junior World U-18 Championships, Junior Orange Bowl, and the Junior European U-18 Championships. This was also the same year that Kournikova would begin her trademark doubles championship wins that would see her rise from the 144th position on the world’s top female’s tennis list to the 69th place.
In 1997 Kournikova’s wins came to a halt as she did not take any titles in the French Open, the Australian Open, the US Open, and the Wimbledon Championships. She made a comeback in 1998 with an even better ranking of position 16 despite only reaching the semi-finals in many of her games. Lady luck would smile down on Kournikova and at the end of the year she took part in the WTA Tour Championships alongside with Monica Seles, this would be the doubles title that led her to the 10th rank.
A 1999 Grand Slam title next to Martina Hingis would be the beginning of Kournikova’s doubles win, the pair went on to be a double threat on the court and not only their right-hand games were praised as fans were taken by their looks. In 2001 an injury set Kournikova’s tournaments on a down low as she was taken in for a knee surgery, the missed games pushed her doubles ranking back to 26 and the singles to 74th.
She has won a record over 16 Grand Slam titles many of them being doubles with Martina Hingis, in 2010 the duo won the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon.
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