Anna Kournikova: Tennis Player and Model

Anna Kournikova, nicknamed Murzik ("my little pet" in Russian), was born on June 7, 1981 in Moscow, Russia but currently lives in Miami, Florida, in the United States. Her father taught her how to play tennis at the age of 7. Kournikova debuted at age 14 in the Fed Cup for Russia, still the youngest player ever participating. As a 15-year old she reached the fourth round of the 1996 US Open, only to be stopped by world number 1, Steffi Graf. While consistently ranked in the top 20 in the WTA tour rankings, she never won a professional singles tournament (though she made the semi-finals and finals of many). Her serve was notably weak for a top-level tennis player but her variety of shots delighted the pure tennis fan. Kournikova never won a WTA singles title but won 16 doubles WTA titles, including 3 Grand Slams, 2 of which were the Australian Open doubles titles with Martina Hingis.

For her looks, Anna became known as the "Britney Spears of Tennis". Kournikova was named one of People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003. She was voted hottest athlete for consecutive years on espn.com. In 2003, readers of FHM magazine voted Anna the sexiest woman in the world. She also appeared and played Enrique's girlfriend in Enrique Iglesias' music video "Escape."

Anna Kournikova has appeared in a couple films including:

• Me, Myself, and Irene
• Driven