REMEMBERING FORMER STAR ANNA KOURNIKOVA

Anna Kournikova was making the raves years back after bursting on to the scenes in 1998.

She was touted to be the next big star in tennis but she never quite match expectations. Unlike Serena Williams who remains very relevant until date, Kournikova has since fizzled out.

She was a teenager when she broke into the upper echelon of female tennis. At the turn of the new millennium she turned 18, reaching the eighth spot in the WTA rankings. From the tender age of 14-15, she was already established as a star. She represented Russia at the Fed Cup and she reached the last four in Wimbledon 1997. It was eventually her best display at a Grand Slam event before she ‘ghosted’ due to fitness concern. Read more »

ANNA KOURNIKOVA’S LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT

Ever though she retired back in 2007, the former professional tennis star Anna Kournikova had not competed from 2003.

The retiree had earned a much-deserved name for herself in the history of female athletes. To this day, she remains one of the most popular and frequently Googled athletes of all time.

Made more popular by her beautiful physique and her stunning beauty than for her prowess on the court, the former player had engaged in several endeavors even during her time as an active player on the court. Since her retirement, Kournikova has participated in several charity events and fundraisers, appeared as a guest on a popular television series, and has modeled.

Currently a citizen of America, the former player born in Russia made remarkable progress on the court as soon as she picked up her racket. At a tender age of ten, kournikova had moved to Bradenton, FL., to enable her train with nick Bollettieri at the tennis academy. Read more »

MARIA POWERS THROUGH

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, powered her way into the third round of the singles competition of the BNP Paribas Open. She secured an easy straight set victory over Julia Goerges of Germany yesterday. The final score line of the match was 6-1, 6-4 in the favour of Sharapova.

It was not a flawless performance by the Russian beauty queen. He actually served quite a few double faults which would have been proven costly for her if she had been up against a top player, but, against Goerges, she managed to make up for those mistakes with some thunderous hits which left the German youngster answerless.

Sharapova who is at the 5^th position in the official rankings of WTA right now had been out of action since the last few weeks as she was busy in the broadcasting works in the winter Olympics which was taking place in her country .

So, one would have probably expected her to be a little clumsy against Goerges, but, it wasn’t to be. She produced a dominating, first class performance in her comeback match and sent a strong message to her rivals.

In the post match interview, Sharapova said, “It’s never easy to play at your fluent best straightaway after the comeback and especially when you are facing a highly talented player. She (Goerges) might not have won that many matches of late, but, she doesn’t lack abilities. So, considering all those things, I would say I am satisfied with my performance.”

The match between Sharapova and Goerges lasted for just more than an hour, 65 minutes to be precise.

Now, in the next round, Sharapova will be taking on Camila Giorgi (Italy) who reached the third round by beating Sorana Cirstea in the straight sets.

CLOSE AT THE TOP

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, has said that there is nothing wrong between her and Serena Williams.

While being in England for the Wimbledon Championships earlier this year, Serena had made a controversial statement about Sharapova’s personal life.

That statement of Serena had not pleased Sharapova at all and the Russian superstar had expressed her unhappiness in a press conference. She had said that Serena should be worrying about her own life rather than making statements about somebody else’s life.

But, in one of her recent interviews, Sharapova has made it clear that both the players have put that incident behind them.

Sharapova said, “I haven’t talked a lot to Serena about that incident, but, there is no heart feeling between the two of us. We have left that incident behind.”

Although, Sharapova and Serena are not the best of friends but Sharapova hailed the American legend for the way she has performed on the tennis court over the years.

Mentioning Serena’s achievements in the game, Sharapova said, “Serena is one of the greats of the game. The kind of tennis that she has played over the years is fantastic. She has already won 17 Grand Slams and she is still going strong even at the age of 32. That’s incredible.”

Sharapova has been out of action since quite a while because of her shoulder injury. This is the second time in her career that she has picked up a major shoulder injury. She is expected to make her comeback in the first half of the next season.

Recently on her Facebook page, Sharapova requested her fans to come and support her in the BNP Paribas Open next year. The Russian superstar will be defending her crown in that tournament which takes place at Indian Wells, California.

SHARAPOVA TURNS TO CONNORS

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, has announced that she has appointed the former American player Jimmy Connors as her new coach.

Sharapova hasn’t been at the top of her game off late. In the recently played Wimbledon Championships, she suffered a shocking defeat in the second round.

After that, the Russian superstar decided to part ways with her Swedish coach Thomas Hogstedt and secured the services of Connors.

This is not the first time that Connors is going to coach a professional tennis player. He has already worked with the American superstar Andy Roddick for a couple of years.

Connors was a real superstar when he was playing the game. He won a total of 8 Grand Slams in his career out of which 5 were the US Open. He won the Australian Open once and the Wimbledon Championships a couple of times.

Connors was a fantastic hard court player. There were times when he looked absolutely unbeatable on hard courts. So, it’s the perfect time for Sharapova to get him as her coach. The hard court season is coming up and the 60 years old American can help Sharapova a lot at this point of time.

Announcing the appointment of Connors as her new coach, Sharapova said, “I am delighted to inform you all that I have decided to hire Jimmy Connors as my new coach.”

“Jimmy is well known to me. We have worked together earlier as well. Just before the Australian Open in 2008, he had helped me for a few weeks.”

“I am looking forward to working with Jimmy on a permanent basis. It will be wonderful to be guided by a great player like him. Hopefully, our partnership will prove to be a successful one.”

Sharapova is expected to be back in action in the upcoming Stanford Classic hard court tournament.

CLASS SHINES THROUGH

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, has defeated Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic in the second round of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2013. Sharapova won the match in three sets by 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3.

This was a nail biting encounter, but, at the end, Sharapova’s experience and class proved to be too much for the Czech player. With this win, Sharapova made her way into the final 8.

This was Sharapova’s first win over Safarova on clay courts. Before this, these two players had met on clay court three years back and in that match, Sharapova was defeated.

In the post match interview, Sharapova said, “It was never going to be an easy match. I was playing against a player who always plays well on clay courts. So, I knew that I would be tested and the same happened. Thankfully, I managed to get through somehow.”

“I played poorly in some parts of the match; no doubt about that. I should have finished the match in the second set, but, I couldn’t. So, there is surely some work for me to do.”

In the first set, both the players got one breakthrough each in the first 8 games and the scores were equalized at 4-4 at the end of the 8^th game.

Sharapova got another breakthrough in the 9^th game to get ahead by 5-4 and then, with a serve hold in the 10^th game, she finished the set off.

In the second set, both the players broke each other twice in the first 12 games and the set went into the tie breaker. Safarova stunned the Russian player with her improvisation in the tie breaker.

Sharapova lost the tie breaker and the match got extended into the third set.

In the final set, Sharapova was at her peak. Some fantastic forehand shots came off her racket and her opponent had no clue whatsoever about how to tackle that onslaught.

Sharapova got a breakthrough in the 6^th game to take a 4-2 lead. She calmly held her remaining serve after that and walked away with a tight win.

In the quarter final, Sharapova will face Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.