Name: Anna Kournikova Age: 23 Nationality: Russian Claim to fame: Tennis’ most famous babe marries her Latin boyfriend Enrique Iglesias
Anna Kournikova, the tennis star with supermodel looks, has always been more in the news for her personal life than for her skills on the tennis court. So when she married her singer boyfriend Enrique Iglesias, secretly, the world was bound to discover it soon.
The blonde was seen wearing a wedding band on her ring finger Sunday last at a charity tennis event in Florida, where she lives. She was soon asked about it. “Enrique is great. Everything is awesome. We are married,” she was reported to have said. According to friends, they were wed on the beach in the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta a few weeks ago, with only family and a few close friends there. Kournikova has been dating Enrique Iglesias 29, the son of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias for the past two years since, she appeared in his music video for his hit Escape.
Kournikova is one of the most recognizable players in women’s tennis and has always attracted massive support wherever she played. Retired from professional tennis in March 2004, Anna Kournikova may possibly be the most popular tennis player in the world never to have won a singles tour event. And off the court, the much-photographed Anna Kournikova is a major worldwide celebrity, with a lifestyle to match her supermodel looks.
Born Anya Kournikova in Moscow, her father was a natural athlete who coached tennis part-time, and both her parents encouraged her to play sports from an early age. Anna received her first tennis racquet at the age of five as a Christmas present and by the age of eight, Anna began to catch the eye of the local tennis scouts. When the ATP Tour established a tournament in Moscow in 1990, Anna Kournikova was first able to demonstrate her potential. She competed in the junior event, which swiftly led to a management deal. Two years later Anna jetted off to Florida, to train with coach Nick Bolletierri at his famous tennis academy.
At 14, she was the youngest ever winner of a Federation Cup match and won the European Championships and Italian Open juniors. At the close of 1995, she ranked number 1 in the world for the junior game. Her professional tour started in 1996, amidst massive media attention, and she reached the fourth round in the US Open. She followed this up with a semifinal appearance on her Wimbledon debut in 1997, losing to Martina Hingis. Though a top ten singles player, Anna’s only Grand Slam title to date came in the 1999 Australian open Ladies’ Doubles with Hingis.
She is one of the richest women in sports, thanks to lucrative sponsorship contracts, and one of the most searched people on the Internet. Besides gracing the cover of top magazines, she has also appeared in the Jim Carrey comedy, Me, Myself & Irene and has even had a deadly Internet virus named after her! What more can a girl ask for?
Anna Kournikova, the tennis star with supermodel looks, has always been more in the news for her personal life than for her skills on the tennis court. So when she married her singer boyfriend Enrique Iglesias, secretly, the world was bound to discover it soon.
