Just How Good Was Anna Kournikova?

Anna Kournikova was once ranked at an all-time high of 8 without a single title to show for it. Despite retiring at 21, she is a story of what could have been.
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In this video we go over

#kournikova

[jm]

If not for her beauty she would be completely forgotten at this point.

[Ineddiblehulk]

She was far more talented than people give her credit for - she was a very balanced player.

Her game was similar to Hingis, but more athletic and, obviously, not as peerlessly gifted.

[iamshadowbanned]

She was a very good player, but she was just too prone to injuries to really become a great singles player.

[EmilieSagae]

I think she really felt the pressure of receiving so much media attention. That's why she could thrive in doubles where there wasn't as much focus on her. Then of course, she was unfortunately injury prone.

The serve was a liability at times, but the rest of her game was well-rounded. She definitely could have achieved lots in singles under different circumstances.

[selfcareizthebestcare]

More on Anna Kournikova...
First coach in Russia was Larisa Preobrazhenskaya; went to Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida for tennis training in February 1992 and stayed until moving to Miami in 1997...Began playing tennis at age five with friends in a weekly childrenÆs sports program...MotherÆs name is Alla; fatherÆs name is Sergei..Graduated from a Russian high school in 1997, and started Physical Culture Russian Academy in September 1997...In 2000, made a $10, 000 donation to junior tennis in Russia and financially assisted the upgrade of her first tennis club, Spartak...Likes to dance, read and listen to music...Favorite tournaments are Roland Garros and Wimbledon...Other sports interests include NBA basketball, ice hockey and Major League Baseball...Favorite color is black...Loves animals, art, fashion, the ocean and beaches.
Career Highlights
SINGLES
Winner: 1996 - ITF/Midland-USA, ITF/Rockford-USA.
Finalist (4): 2002 - Shanghai; 2000 - Moscow; 1999 - Hilton Head; 1998 - Miami.

DOUBLES
Winner (16): 2002 - Australian Open (w/Hingis), Shanghai (w/J.Lee); 2001 - Sydney (w/Schett), Moscow (w/Hingis); 2000 - Season-Ending Championships, Filderstadt, Zurich, Philadelphia (all w/Hingis), Gold Coast (w/Halard-Decugis), Hamburg (w/Zvereva); 1999 - Australian Open, Season-Ending Championships, Indian Wells, Rome, Eastbourne (all w/Hingis); 1998 - Tokyo [Princess Cup] (w/Seles).

MIXED DOUBLES
Finalist (2): 2000 - US Open (w/Mirnyi); 1999 - Wimbledon Fed Cup Team 1996-97, 2000. Russian Olympic Team 1996.
Career in Review
1994 - Received WC into ITF/Moscow-RUS qualifying as a 14-year-old
1995 - Unranked, made Tour debut at Moscow as a qualifier and reached 24 (l. to No. 3 seed Appelmans); debuted on season-ending rankings at No. 281
1996 - Ended season ranked No. 57, a 224-spot improvement in 12 months; won first professional singles titles at ITF/Midland-USA as a qualifier (dropping one set in eight matches), then at ITF/Rockford-USA; made Grand Slam debut at US Open (only second Tour main draw), d. world No. 14 Paulus in 3r before falling to world No. 1 Graf in 4r; afterwards (September 9), ranking jumped from No. 144 to debut in Top 100 at No. 69; represented Russia at Atlanta Olympics (l. 1r to Courtois) and at age 14, became youngest player to compete and win in Fed Cup competition, helping Russia to d. Sweden 3-0 in 1r
1997 - Became second woman in Open Era to reach SF (her first on Tour) in her Wimbledon debut (Evert in 1972 was first, Stevenson in 1999 was third); d. world No. 5 Majoli and No. 10 A. Huber en route, saved 1 mp in 2r win over Rittner; earlier at Berlin, scored first Top 10 win over world No. 6 Sanchez-Vicario in 3r to reach first Tour QF, l. to eventual champion MJ Fernandez and breaking into Top 50 (May 19) at No. 48; l. to world No. 1 Hingis in 3r of Roland Garros; withdrew from Philadelphia with a foot injury
1998 - Broke into Top 20 on March 30 at No. 16 after reaching career-first Tour singles final at Miami; d. No. 4 Seles, No. 9 Martinez, No. 2 Davenport and No. 8 Sanchez-Vicario in consecutive days (joining Evert-1977 VS Championships, Navratilova-1978 VS Championships and 1979 Wimbledon, Goolagong-Cawley-1980 Wimbledon, Pierce-1995 Australian Open, Davenport-1996 Olympics and Novotna-1997 Championships as players to have beaten four Top 10 players in same tournament); fell to V. Williams in 3s; at Berlin, d. No. 5 Sanchez-Vicario and No. 1 Hingis (HingisÆ first loss to someone younger than her) en route to SF; reached 4r at Roland Garros and US Open; at Eastbourne, in QF, handed No. 2 seed Graf only her third grasscourt loss of 1990s, and scored unique achievement of beating last five players to have held No. 1 ranking since 1987 in the space of three months; during match with Graf, fell on her right thumb which forced her withdrawal from SF and Wimbledon (returned in late August at Canadian Open); broke into Top 10 for first time on June 22 at No. 10; with loss to No. 24 Farina Elia at Moscow, l. to a lower-ranked player for first time in 34 career losses, an Open Era record and first loss to someone outside Top 15 in two years
1999 - Ended season as worldÆs No. 1 doubles player; reached one singles final (Hilton Head), three SF, three QF and won her first Grand Slam doubles title w/first-time partner Hingis at Australian Open; reached 4r in singles at all four Grand Slams; Hilton Head final vs. Hingis was the youngest in 27-year history with a combined age of 36 years, five months; at Amelia Island, d. No. 2 Davenport and No. 10 Schnyder for her first Top 10 wins since 1998 Berlin; suffered stress fracture in right foot while practicing for Canadian Open in early August and was off the Tour for nearly three months, returning in Linz the last week of October
2000 - Finished inside Top 15 for third consecutive year and first time in Top 10 at No. 8; reached one singles final (Moscow), eight SF and seven QF; won season-ending Championships doubles title for second successive year (w/Hingis); tore a ligament in left ankle in Berlin 2r in May, forcing her withdrawal from Rome
2001 - Season dominated by injury including a left foot stress fracture which forced her withdrawal from 12 tournaments, incl. Roland Garros and Wimbledon; underwent surgery in April; prior to injury, reached second career Grand Slam QF at Australian Open, Tokyo [Pan Pacific] SF (l. to Seles in 3s) and Paris Indoors QF (l. to Mauresmo in 3s); returned to the Tour at San Diego, l. 1r to Pratt in 3s (reached doubles final w/Hingis); withdrew from several events due to continuing problems with her left foot and did not return until Leipzig (l. to Myskina in 2r), incurring her first career loss to a fellow Russian in a Tour event; won Moscow doubles title (w/Hingis), their 10th title together; won first matches since returning from injury at Luxembourg to reach QF (l. to eventual champion Clijsters)
2002 - Won Australian Open doubles w/Hingis, their second Grand Slam together; began singles season at Auckland, reaching SF (l. to eventual champion Smashnova); as a WC, reached Tokyo [Pan Pacific] SF, her first Tier I SF appearance since 2001 Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (l. to Seles in 3s); reached Acapulco SF (l. to eventual champion Srebotnik in 3s); Wimbledon doubles semifinalist (w/Rubin), representing the only team to win a set from eventual champions Williams/Williams; at Stanford halted five-match losing-streak and reached QF, l. to eventual champion V. Williams, marking third time in three appearances at the tournament to lose to her; reached third SF of season at San Diego (l. to Dokic 67(6) 76(2) 60 after holding 2 mp); at Shanghai, reached first singles final in nearly two years (2000 Moscow), l. to No. 1 seed Smashnova, having beaten her twice in US Open lead-up; won Shanghai doubles title w/first-time partner J. Lee; sprained right ankle at Moscow, forcing her to withdraw for rest of season
2003 - Collected first Grand Slam match victory in two years at Australian Open, d. Nagyova 1r (l. to Henin-Hardenne in 2r); withdrew from Tokyo [Pan Pacific] due to sprained back suffered at Australian Open and did not return to Tour until Miami; retired in 1r of Charleston due to left adductor strain; reached SF at ITF/Sea Island-USA before withdrawing from match vs. Sharapova due to adductor injury; upset in 1r ITF/Charlottesville-USA; did not compete for rest of season due to continuing back injury

[trwent]

Anna never won a singles tournament in her entire career. But she certainly won a lot of male hearts, along with Martina Hingis.

[ManInBlack]

I wish she would’ve taken a break and came back instead of retiring! She was so young and had so much potential!

[ManuelPabloArnao]

"8 of which were grand slams" - Um, no. She won 2 women's doubles slams at the Australian, that's it.

[alexpiper]

Anna only won 2 doubles grand slams with Hingis. not 8

[AndrewLane-pmro]

Anna Kournikova was the greatest female tennis of all time, coz she was the prettiest female tennis player of all time.
She should have been declared the winner of every match she ever played, bcoz she was always prettier than her opponent.

[jddII]

Anna looked a lot better than she played.

[JamesGray-bctq]

I hate tennis but I'd sit in watch her play all day

[Vladimirlives]

She found her success and lives a life of luxury now. And the haters can't stand it.

[scottym]

Doesn't matter she killed it in endorsements

[AmahlAzwar]

She was actually a very good player in her own right. Folks look down on her BECAUSE of her looks, but if she doesn't get good results, people wouldn't care how she looks.

[RichardGilbey]

Greatest 16 year old tennis player ever

[bobbyhanly]

Greatest player of all time. Jaw droppingly beautiful and one couldn't take one's eyes off her. Her partnership with Martina was a marriage made in heaven. No discerning man would throw Martina out of the bed for eating crisps either.

[styleniko]

It was Martina Hingis who carried her all the way to the top.

[aziraphaleangel]

In less than a minute you managed to reference three former World Number Ones, and spell every single one of their names incorrectly. Impressive.

[fontana]

How good ? She was a regular tennis player, she is famous because she was pretty. Next