Russian-born Anna Kournikova left Moscow at the age of 9 to come to Nick Bollettieri's
Tennis Academy in Florida, USA - the same academy which has also produced Monica Seles
and Andre Agassi. She was the world's topped-ranked junior at the end of 1995, shortly after
Martina Hingis joined the professional ranks.

Kournikova herself turned professional in 1996, and competed in her first grand slam
at the US Open that year. She performed exceptionally well, defeating seeded players
before finally falling to eventual champion Steffi Graf in the 4th round.

In 1997, she affirmed her position amongst the world's top players, with the
highlight being a semi-final appearance at her first Wimbledon as a professional. This year
she has further surged up the rankings, with the highlight so far being an appearance in the
final of the prestigious Lipton Championships, defeating four top 10 players consecutively
along the way. She also holds a marvellous record of not having lost to a player ranked below
15th (or lower ranked than her) since the beginning of 1997.

Kournikova says her game wasn't modelled after any one player, although lists Graf and
Seles as players she has learnt from, watching television. Now at 17 years of age, she
is developing her power game and exhibiting some fearful groundstrokes coupled with good
court mentality. Kournikova is indeed superstar material, with glamourous looks
(she says if not for tennis, her passion would be acting) and an aggressive all-court game
to match. In fact, she has had an agent since the age of 10.

She is currently on the verge of breaking into the
world Top 10, and others forsee her and Hingis (along with Venus Williams) battling it out for
world number 1 in the not-too-distant future. Regardless, Anna Kournikova will play a great role
in the future of women's tennis.