Anna Kournikova

Her father, Sergei Kournikov (born 1961), a former Greco-Roman wrestling champion, eventually earned a PhD and was a professor at the University of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow.

Her mother Alla (born 1963) had been a 400-metre runner.

Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (Анна Сергеевна Курникова; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player and American television personality.

Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide.

At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on Google Search.

Kournikova was born in Moscow, Russia, on 7 June 1981.

Kournikova received her first tennis racquet as a New Year gift in 1986 at the age of five.

Describing her early regimen, she said, "I played two times a week from age six. It was a children's program. And it was just for fun; my parents didn't know I was going to play professionally, they just wanted me to do something because I had lots of energy. It was only when I started playing well at seven that I went to a professional academy. I would go to school, and then my parents would take me to the club, and I'd spend the rest of the day there just having fun with the kids."

In 1986, Kournikova became a member of the Spartak Tennis Club, coached by Larissa Preobrazhenskaya.

In 1989, at the age of eight, Kournikova began appearing in junior tournaments, and by the following year, was attracting attention from tennis scouts across the world.

She 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, she became prominent on the tennis scene.

At the age of 14, she won the European Championships and the Italian Open Junior tournament.

In December 1995, she became the youngest player to win the 18-and-under division of the Junior Orange Bowl tennis tournament.

By the end of the year, Kournikova was crowned the ITF Junior World Champion U-18 and Junior European Champion U-18.

Earlier, in September 1995, Kournikova, still only 14 years of age, debuted in the WTA Tour, when she received a wildcard into the qualifications at the WTA tournament in Moscow, the Moscow Ladies Open, and qualified before losing in the second round of the main draw to third-seeded Sabine Appelmans.

She also reached her first WTA Tour doubles final in that debut appearance — partnering with 1995 Wimbledon girls' champion in both singles and doubles Aleksandra Olsza, she lost the title match to Meredith McGrath and Larisa Savchenko-Neiland.

In February–March 1996, Kournikova won two ITF titles, in Midland, Michigan and Rockford, Illinois.

Still only 14 years of age, in April 1996 she debuted at the Fed Cup for Russia, the youngest player ever to participate and win a match.

In 1996, she started playing under a new coach, Ed Nagel.

Her six-year association with Nagel was successful.

At 15, she made her Grand Slam debut, reaching the fourth round of the 1996 US Open, losing to Steffi Graf, the eventual champion.

After this tournament, Kournikova's ranking jumped from No. 144 to debut in the 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.

Kournikova entered the 1997 Australian Open as world No. 67, where she lost in the first round to world No. 12, Amanda Coetzer.

At the Italian Open, Kournikova lost to Amanda Coetzer in the second round.

She reached the semi-finals in the doubles partnering with Elena Likhovtseva, before losing to the sixth seeds Mary Joe Fernández and Patricia Tarabini.

At the French Open, Kournikova made it to the third round before losing to world No. 1, Martina Hingis.

With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002, and the WTA Championships in 1999 and 2000.

They referred to themselves as the "Spice Girls of Tennis".

Despite never winning a singles title, she reached No. 8 in the world in 2000.

She achieved greater success playing doubles, where she was at times the world No. 1 player.

As of 2001, he was still a part-time martial arts instructor there.

Kournikova retired from professional tennis in 2003 due to serious back and spinal problems, including a herniated disk.

She lives in Miami Beach, Florida, and played in occasional exhibitions and in doubles for the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis before the team folded in 2011.

She was a new trainer for season 12 of the television show The Biggest Loser, replacing Jillian Michaels, but did not return for season 13.

In addition to her tennis and television work, Kournikova serves as a Global Ambassador for Population Services International's "Five & Alive" program, which addresses health crises facing children under the age of five and their families.

Her younger half-brother, Allan, is a youth golf world champion who was featured in the 2013 documentary film The Short Game.

Sergei Kournikov has said, "We were young and we liked the clean, physical life, so Anna was in a good environment for sport from the beginning".