Tennis career
Early career
In 1986, Anna became a member of the prestigious Spartak Tennis Club, coached by Larissa Preobraschenskaja. In 1989, at the tender age of eight, Anna began appearing in junior tournaments, and by the following year, was attracting attention from tennis scouts across the world. Anna signed a management deal at age ten and went to Bradenton, Florida to train at Nick Bollettieri’s celebrated tennis academy.
Following her arrival in the United States, Anna exploded onto the tennis scene, making her the internationally recognized tennis star she is today. At the age of 14, she went on to win the European Championships and the Italian Open Junior tournament. Anna also beat out the competition to win the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl, becoming the youngest player ever to win the 18 and under division at that tournament. By the end of the year, Anna was crowned the ITF Junior World Champion U-18 and Junior European Champion U-18.
1994-1996
In 1994, Anna Kournikova received a wild card into ITF tournament in Moscow qualifications, but she failed.
Kournikova debuted in professional tennis at age 14 in the Fed Cup for Russia, the youngest player ever to participate and win. In 1995, she turned pro, and won two ITF titles, in Midland, Michigan and Rockford, Illinois. At age 15, she made her grand slam debut, when she reached the fourth round of the 1996 U.S. Open, only to be stopped by then-top ranked player, Steffi Graf. After this tournament, her ranking jumped from No. 144 to debut in Top 100 at No. 69.
Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1996, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year, and she was ranked No. 57 in the end of the season.
1997
At the Australian Open, Anna Kournikova lost in the first round to World No. 12 Amanda Coetzer, 6—2, 6—2. She also reached the second round of the Pacific Life Open, when she was defeated by World No.3 Anke Huber in three sets (3—6, 6—2, 6—2). She played the fourth round of the Miami Open, when she lost to Jana Novotná in straight sets (6—3, 6—4). Novotná was the third seed at this tournament.
She also lost to Coetzer in the second round of the Italian Open in three sets (6—2, 4—6, 6—1). Kournikova reached the quarterfinals of the German Open to Mary Joe Fernandez in two sets, 6—1, 6—4. She then played at the French Open. She lost in the third round to the first seed Martina Navratilova 6—1, 6—3.
In 1997, Anna Kournikova became the second woman in the open era to reach the semifinals (her first on WTA Tour) in her Wimbledon debut (Chris Evert in 1972 was first). 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. En her route to the semifinals, she defeated the World No. 5 Iva Majoli, No. 10 Anke Huber and Barbara Rittner.
She then lost in the first round of the Los Angeles Open to Anke Huber, and in the second round of the US Open to the 11th seed Irina Spîrlea. Her last 1997 tournament was Filderstadt, when she lost to Amanda Coetzer in the second round.
Kournikova also played doubles. Her best results were the semifinals of the Italian Open (partnering Elena Likhovtseva) and the Los Angeles Open (partnering Ai Sugiyama).
On May 19, she broke into the top 50, when she was ranked No. 48. At the end of the season, she was ranked No. 32 in singles and No. 41 in doubles.
1998
1998 was her breakthrough year, when she broke into the WTA’s top 20 rankings for the first time, when she was ranked No. 16. She also scored impressive victories over Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Steffi Graf.
Kournikova played at the Medibank International in Sydney, when she lost to Lindsay Davenport in the second round. She then reached the third round of the Australian Open where she lost to Martina Hingis in three sets (6—4, 4—6, 6—4). She lost in the second round of the Paris Open to World No.5 Anke Huber.
Kournikova reached the semifinals in Hannover. She lost to Jana Novotná in two sets 6—3, 6—3. She again lost to Novotná in the quarterfinals in Linz, and to Conchita Martínez in the fourth round in Indian Wells. Kournikova reached her first WTA Tour final in Miami, where she lost to Venus Williams in three sets, even though she won the first set (2—6, 6—4, 6—1).
She then played at Amelia Island, when she reached the quarter finals (lost to Lindsay Davenport). She then lost in the quarter finals of the Italian Open to Martina Hingis. She played the semifinals of the Italian Open, when she lost to Conchita Martínez. During this tournament, she defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Martina Hingis.
Kournikova then played at the French Open. She lost to Jana Novotná in the fourth round. She then played in the semifinals at Eastbourne (lost to Sánchez Vicario). She then lost in the first, second, third and fourth rounds of the tournaments. Her last tournament was the WTA Championships, where she lost in the first round to Monica Seles.
In 1998, Kournikova reached her first doubles final, partnering with Larisa Neiland. That was the final of the Paris Open, where they lost to Sabine Appelmans and Miriam Oremans in three sets 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(3). They also lost to Nathalie Tauziat and Alexandra Fusai in the final in Linz. Partnering Monica Seles, she won the Tokyo title. They defeated Mary Joe Fernandez and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6—4, 6—4. With Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, she lost to Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva in the finals at Filderstadt. At the end of the season, she was ranked #10 in doubles.
1999
At the end of the season, Anna Kournikova was ranked #12 in singles and #1 in doubles.
On January 31, Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis won a grand slam title in women’s doubles. They defeated Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva at the finals of the Australian Open.
Kournikova played the finals at Hilton Head, where she lost to Hingis. She also played the semifinals in Oklahoma City (lost to Amanda Coetzer), Amelia Island (lost to Ruxandra Dragomir) and Eastbourne (lost to Nathalie Tauziat).
She was more successful in doubles. Partnering Martina Hingis, she won the titles in Indian Wells, the Rome, Eastbourne and the WTA Championships, and played the finals of the French Open and Stanford (partnering with Elena Likhovtseva). At the end of the year, Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis were presented with the WTA Award for Doubles Team of the Year. She lost in the final of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, partnering Jonas Björkman.
2000
In 2000, Anna Kournikova broke into the top 10, reaching No. 8 in singles. She was also ranked #4 in doubles at the end of the season.
In singles she reached the finals of the Kremlin Cup, where she lost to Martina Hingis. She also reached eight semifinals and seven quarter finals. She was again more successful in doubles. She played the finals of the mixed doubles at the US Open, partnering with Max Mirnyi.
With Julie Halard-Decugis, she won the tournament at the Gold Coast. Partnering with Barbara Schett, she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. With Natasha Zvereva, she lost in the finals at Indian Wells. They also won at Hamburg. She lost in the finals at San Diego, partnering with Lindsay Davenport. With Martina Hingis, she won at Zürich, the Kremlin Cup, and at Philadelphia and the WTA Championships.
2001
This season was dominated by injury, including a left foot stress fracture which forced her withdrawal from twelve tournaments, including the French Open and Wimbledon. She underwent surgery in April. She reached her second career grand slam quarter finals, at the Australian Open. Kournikova then withdrew from several events due to continuing problems with her left foot and did not return until Leipzig.
With Barbara Schett, she won the doubles title in Sydney. She then lost in the finals in Tokyo, partnering with Iroda Tulyaganova, and at San Diego, partnering with Martina Hingis. Hingis and Kournikova also won the Kremlin Cup.
At the end of the 2001 season, she was ranked #74 in singles and #26 in doubles.
2002
In this season, Anna Kournikova was quite successful. She reached the semifinals of Auckland, Tokyo, Acapulco and San Diego, and the finals of Shangai. She lost to Anna Smashnova. This was Kournikova’s last singles finals and the last chance to win a single title.
With Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova lost in the finals of Sydney, but they won their second grand slam title together, Australian Open in women’s doubles. They also lost in the quarterfinals of U.S. Open. With Chanda Rubin, Anna Kournikova played the semifinals of Wimbledon, but they lost to Serena and Venus Williams. Partnering Janet Lee, she won the Shangai title.
At the end of 2002 season, she was ranked #35 in singles and #11 in doubles.
2003
In 2003, Anna Kournikova collected first grand slam match victory in two years at Australian Open. She defeated Henrieta Nagyová in the 1st round, and then lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the 2nd round. She withdrew from Tokyo due to sprained back suffered at Australian Open and did not return to Tour until Miami. Kournikova retired in the 1st round of Charleston due to left adductor strain.
She reached the semifinals at ITF tournament in Sea Island, before withdrawing from match versus Maria Sharapova due to adductor injury. She lost in the 1st round of ITF tournament in Charlottesville. She did not compete for rest of season due to continuing back injury
At the end of 2003 season and her professional career, she was ranked #305 in singles and #176 in doubles.
Career summary
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, winning 16 tournament doubles titles, including two Australian Opens and being a finalist in mixed doubles at the U.S. Open and at Wimbledon, and reaching the No.1 ranking in doubles in the Women’s Tennis Association tour rankings. Her pro career doubles record was 200-71. However, her singles career plateaued after 1999. For the most part, she managed to retain her ranking between 10 and 15 (her career high singles ranking was No.8), but her expected finals breakthrough failed to occur; she only reached four finals out of 130 singles tournaments, never in a Grand Slam event, and never won one.
Her singles record is 209-129. Her final playing years were marred by a string of injuries, especially back injuries, which caused her ranking to erode gradually.
Present
Kournikova has not played on the WTA Tour since 2003, but still plays exhibition matches for charitable causes. In late 2004, she participated in three events organized by Elton John and by fellow tennis players Serena Williams and Andy Roddick. In January 2005, she played in a doubles charity event for the Indian Ocean tsunami with John McEnroe, Roddick, and Chris Evert. In November 2005, she teamed up with Martina Hingis, playing against Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the WTT finals for charity. Kournikova is also a member of the St. Louis Aces in the World Team Tennis (WTT), playing doubles only.
In September 2008, Kournikova showed up for the 2008 Nautica Malibu Triathlon held at Zuma Beach in Malibu. The Race raised funds for children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She won that race for women’s K-Swiss team. On September 27, 2008, Kournikova played exhibition matches in Charlotte, North Carolina; she played two mixed doubles matches. She partnered Tim Wilkison and Karel Novacek. Kournikova and Wilkinson defeated Jimmy Arias and Chanda Rubin, and then Kournikova and Novacek defeated Chanda Rubin and Tim Wilkison.
On October 12, 2008, Anna Kournikova played one exibitional match for the annual charity event, hosted by Billie Jean King and Sir Elton John, raised more than $400,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund. She played doubles with Andy Roddick (they were coached by Sir Elton John) versus Martina Navratilova and Jesse Levine (coached by Billie Jean King); Kournikova and Roddick won 5-4(3).
She is the current K-Swiss spokesperson.
In a feature for ELLE magazine’s July 2005 issue, Kournikova stated that if she were 100% fit, she would like to come back and compete again.
Playing style
As a player, Kournikova was noted for her footspeed and aggressive baseline play, and excellent angles and dropshots; however, her relatively flat, high-risk groundstrokes tended to produce frequent errors, and her serve was sometimes unreliable in singles.
Kournikova holds her racket in her right hand but uses both hands when she plays backhand shots. She is a good player at the net. She can hit forceful groundstrokes and also drop shots.
Her playing style fits the profile for a doubles player, and is complemented by her height. She has been compared to such doubles specialists as Pam Shriver and Peter Fleming.
