Anna Kournikovashot to fame as a wunderkind teen tennis player in the late 1990s.
These days, she is retired from the game, and lives a relatively quiet life with her family.
Keep reading to follow the stunning transformation of Anna Kournikova.
Both of her parents were athletes, and Kournikova certainly inherited those genes.
Even though Kournikova was only 10, she loved the game, and took to working with Bollettieri immediately.
I thought, ‘Who the hell is this?’
I’m ready.'"
Just four years after joining his academy, she won the 1995 Italian Open Junior tournament.
Kournikova was only 14, and more tennis success was right around the corner.
Even more exciting, she won her very first game against German player Marketa Kotcha.
She did lose her next game, falling in the second round to Belgian player Sabine Applemans.
She had more success in the doubles competition of the Moscow Ladies Open.
Kournikova partnered with Polish tennis player Aleksandra Olsza, and they made a deep run into the tournament.
This competition foreshadowed Kournikova’s later success as a doubles tennis player.
I qualified and then I won my first match.
So I think that’s great."
In the fourth round,Kournikova faced first seed Steffi Graf.
Kournikova broke Graf in the first game, but ultimately lost in two sets, 6-2, 6-1.
Just months after the US Open, Kournikova represented the Russian Federation in the 1996Summer Olympic Gamesin Atlanta.
At only 15 years old, she was theyoungest tennis playerparticipating in the Olympics that year.
She ended the yearranked 65, up from 281 the year before.
The only other woman to do that at that point was Chris Evert in 1972 (perWTA).
Even more impressive, Kournikova entered the tournament unseeded.
She did lose her next game, the semi-final, to first-seed Martina Hingis (Switzerland).
I’ve had a great tournament, I’m really happy the way I played.
It’s unbelievable I got to the semi-finals.
I was dreaming about this."
Everyone is making a big rivalry of it."
She wasn’t wrong Hingis and Kournikova would continue to meet in tennis matches all over the world.
But their future together was more than just their rivalry.
It was Kournikova’s first-ever Grand Slam victory.
After the game, Kournikova told theWashington Post, “It feels great.
I was really lucky to play with Martina and it’s a great tradition.”
Hingis started calling the pair “The Spice Girls of Tennis.”
They won the Australian Open again in 2002, which would be Kournikova’s final career Grand Slam victory.
Kournikova wears wedding and engagement rings in instagram pictures, where she lists her name as Anna Kournikova Iglesias.
But she also toldPeoplein 2008, “I’m never getting married.”
And nowadays, it’s not taboo to have kids and not be married."
Regardless of their marital status, the couple is clearly dedicated to each other.
She played in the Australian Open and won her first round game, but aggravated her back.
That injury forced her to withdraw from several tournaments that year.
She was a Top 10 player.
It’s not just about winning tournaments.
Kournikova has also volunteered with HIV/AIDS patients in other parts of the world.
As with her other volunteer work with PSI, her focus at the USO has been working with children.
After Guam, she also traveled to Germany and Turkey.
Everybody is working together toward a common goal, and with extreme care and dedication in everything they do.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to give back to our military for their service and sacrifice.
I can truly say I am proud to be an American."
She said, “You know, I’ve always considered myself half Russian and half American.
It never seemed to really matter if I had a passport or not.
In December 2017, she gave birth to theirtwins, Nicholas and Lucy.
… [The transition went] very smoothly.”
The Kournikova-Iglesias family lives in Miami, where they keep a low profile.
