How Anna Kournikova went from tennis pin-up to recluse after retiring at 21 for quiet life with pop star heart-throb
How Anna Kournikova went from tennis pin-up to recluse after retiring at 21 for quiet life with pop star heart-throb
Share:
ANNA KOURNIKOVA appeared to have it all. The successful tennis career. The multi-million-pound sponsorship deals. The dazzling supermodel good looks. The perfect blonde hair to match. And the pop-star partner. She was, without doubt, one of the biggest stars in the world.
![[Anna Kournikova modeling Adidas sportswear.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/anna-kournikova-russia-models-new-967550593.jpg?strip=all&w=771)
So much so that she was still the most Googled athlete on the planet five years after retiring. But she traded in life in the public spotlight for a quiet one in private, perfectly content with her close network of friends and family - including her three children.
![[Anna Kournikova modeling Adidas sportswear.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/anna-kournikova-russia-models-new-967550576.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Born in Moscow in 1981, Kournikova did not take long to show potential and aged ten joined the prestigious Nick Bollettieri academy in Florida which boasts Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters among its star-studded alumni. She turned pro at just 14 and made her Wimbledon debut in 1997, reaching the semi-finals on debut, losing to Martina Hingis.
![[Martina Hingis playing tennis.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/d0c3b809-48f1-4717-87f5-a0bfee0bc26d.jpg?strip=all&w=653)
That was her best Grand Slam result but she teamed up with Hingis to win two Australian Open doubles titles together in 1999 and 2002. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS. The superstar pairing were the darlings of their sport and were dubbed the ‘Spice Girls of tennis’.
![[Anna Kournikova in a wheelchair with a leg brace, accompanied by her family.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/web-call-pricing-former-tennis-967190206_0ac3b9.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Kournikova in particular proved a major smash hit with fans who clambered to watch her play - and not just for her forehands and backhands. The glamorous Russian - who reached No8 in the world in singles but No1 in doubles - was inundated with sponsorship deals with the likes of adidas, Omega and Berlei, for whom she became the face of the shock absorber sports bras.
![[Anna Kournikova and Nick Bollettieri on a tennis court with a shopping cart full of tennis balls.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2ek1h0y-russian-tennis-player-anna-780767431.jpg?strip=all&w=656)
.jpg?trim=85,0,86,0&quality=75&auto=webp&width=1000)
-Cropped.png?width=1200&auto=webp)
