Ann Sergeyevna Kournikova (Russian: Анна Сергеевна Курникова, Ánna Sergéyevna Kúrnikova; born June 7, 1981) is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Gaining renown as much for her physical beauty as her tennis game, she became one of the best known tennis players worldwide, even among those who do not follow the game.
Presently, she resides in Miami, Florida. An only child, she was born in Moscow, Soviet Union to Alla and Sergei Kournikov; her family later emigrated to the United States.
Kournikova's major-league tennis career has been curtailed for the past several years, and possibly ended, by serious back and spinal problems. She has had some success at the singles game, but her specialty has been doubles, where she has at times been the world's #1 doubles player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002, .
Kournikova's playing style fits the profile for a doubles player, and is complemented by her being taller than the average tennis player. On occasion, she has been compared to such players as Pam Shriver and Peter Fleming, with numerous doubles championships to their credit playing with shorter partners, such as Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe. With their skill and good looks, Kournikova and Hingis called themselves jestingly The Spice Girls of Tennis.
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