As one of the most famous tennis players in the world — and one of the wealthiest — Anna Kournikova isn't a name you associate with tragedy. But her success was built on sweat, blood, and tears.
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00:00As one of the most famous tennis players in the world and one of the wealthiest, Anna Kournikova
00:06isn't a name you associate with tragedy, but her success was built on sweat, blood, and tears.
00:13These days, Anna Kournikova lives a luxurious life by any standards.
00:17She and her longtime partner, Enrique Iglesias, have often been spotted enjoying their money by
00:22yachting, doing philanthropic work, and living the high life before heading home to their $26
00:27million mansion in Miami. But although Kournikova has been able to experience quite a bit of comfort
00:33in her adult life, that wasn't always the case. As a child, Kournikova grew up in the Soviet Union
00:38and didn't always have access to technology, television, or even ripe fruits.
00:43The only way you could keep kids occupied is by, like, literally making them play sports
00:49and run around or study. So it was one or the other.
00:52When Kournikova moved to Florida at the age of 10,
00:54her perspective changed so drastically that she described it as a shock,
00:58simply because of some of the items that were available in stores.
01:02You know, it's really cold always in Russia,
01:04and here I came to Florida and I saw bananas and, you know, apples and everything.
01:09Although Kournikova has described Florida as something of a paradise,
01:13her childhood in the Sunshine State was far from easy. The tennis star remembers struggling a lot
01:18with the financial pressure that was placed on her by family members. On an episode of The Graham
01:22Norton Show, Kournikova admitted that those early years were challenging.
01:26I felt like, because of me, my whole family moved to a different continent, and so I was
01:32supporting everybody, basically.
01:34At the time, Kournikova accepted this pressure as part of her reality.
01:37However, as the years have gone on, the tennis star has gained a new perspective
01:42on what she now views as a challenging aspect of her childhood.
01:45Back then, I mean, I still had so much fun on the court,
01:47but looking back at it now, I mean, I would never do that to my kids.
01:52While training for competitive sports, a lot of young athletes enjoy forging lifelong friendships
01:57with their teammates. Kournikova, however, was a lone wolf from the time she was small.
02:01This, of course, was not entirely by choice. The way her former coach Nick Bolateri remembers
02:07things, Anna wasn't allowed to have a lot of friends outside of her mother, Alla Kournikova.
02:11You play, you eat, you go home with mama. So Anna, in that young life there,
02:18there was not too much social activity.
02:21In that sense, Anna lived a very lonely childhood,
02:24one in which athletic success mattered much more than social development and connection.
02:28This likely proved very difficult for the young tennis player,
02:31as she was largely isolated from the people who surrounded her.
02:35My mother didn't let her forget where she came from,
02:38so her interaction with other students was very limited.
02:42Socializing wasn't the only thing that Kournikova was not allowed to do during her youth.
02:47In fact, the budding tennis star was prevented from enjoying a number of normal activities as
02:51a result of her intensive training schedule. Starting at the age of five,
02:55Kournikova was expected to play tennis for six hours every day.
02:59Two hours. After 12 o'clock I have lunch, and after rest, two hours.
03:07As she grew older, her schedule became even more vigorous,
03:10meaning that she simply did not have time for a lot of leisure.
03:13Reflecting on this on The Graham Norton Show, Kournikova recalled,
03:17I mean, I was really brought up, like you said, like military.
03:21Like, practice at this time, workout at this time, food, you know, therapy, all that.
03:26Because Kournikova was so busy training, she missed out on a number of fun events,
03:30like school dances. Apparently, this upbringing has had a long-term impact on Kournikova's
03:35personality. As the former tennis professional told Norton,
03:38I mean, I'm still really OCD and disciplined.
03:42Kournikova had a somewhat challenging relationship with her mother,
03:44Alla. According to coach Nick Volatieri, part of the problem was that Alla interfered too
03:49much in Anna's training. Describing this dynamic for ESPN in 2002, Volatieri said,
03:55I believe what happened here, whether it was deliberate or not deliberate,
03:59is that Anna became too dependent on her mother.
04:02When a ball was hit, the head would go from here to the sideline. And when that happens,
04:08you're really not running your own ship.
04:10In Volatieri's view, Alla's influence on the court was negative because it prevented Anna
04:14from developing her own identity as a tennis player. He said that she was always slightly
04:19held back because of her need to look for approval on the sidelines.
04:23Her mother really did run the show and sort of have different ideas of how she felt
04:30the ball should be hit.
04:32As her game grew and she became an increasingly high-profile player,
04:36she would find that she lacked the finishing touches necessary to become a grand slam winner.
04:41Although Kournikova's training schedule was certainly intense, it definitely paid off.
04:46In 1997, at her first Wimbledon tournament, Kournikova made it to the semifinals.
04:51This would have been a huge accomplishment for anyone, but Kournikova was just 16 years
04:56old at the time of her big win and won in a major upset. At the end of 1996,
05:01she was ranked No. 57 for women's tennis. To make it to the semifinals at Wimbledon,
05:06Kournikova had to defeat the No. 5-seeded player in the quarterfinals.
05:10Following this tremendous performance, Kournikova became one of the most popular tennis players in
05:15the world.
05:16I felt like, you know, I'm finally there and I made it.
05:19Fans began to root for her and gather to watch her play, and it looked like the teenage tennis
05:24star would eventually become one of the greatest athletes in the world. Alas, this was not to be.
05:30Over the course of the next five years, Kournikova would do her best to replicate
05:33the same level of success that she achieved when she was 16. Unfortunately, though,
05:38she would never make it to the finals of a singles Grand Slam tournament. Instead,
05:42she would spend the rest of her career fighting for a title that would never come.
05:46Perhaps as a result of her rise to fame at a young age, Anna Kournikova struggled immensely
05:51with the amount of media attention she received. In a 2010 press conference,
05:56Kournikova told reporters that she held them responsible for the bulk of her stardom,
06:00saying,
06:01"'Really, you know, the fame and everything? I guess most of it was created by you guys,
06:05by the media a lot of times, most of the time the yellow press.'"
06:09Apparently, as a young person, Kournikova often felt overwhelmed by the spotlight, adding,
06:14"'I mean, obviously, it was a little hard times dealing with it being
06:1816, 17 years old. Reading some kind of crap about yourself, you know? Most of it was made up.'"
06:24Looking back at the situation, Kournikova expressed her feeling that it's the parents'
06:28role to try to protect their children from the media, saying,
06:31"'If I had a 16-year-old kid, I would try to guard them as much as I can and keep the
06:35focus on what the kid is supposed to do — play tennis, work out, do your therapy.'"
06:40"'Nobody can prepare you for being in a room in front of 30 journalists,
06:45you know, when you're 15 years old.'"
06:48At the end of the day, the sports star's goal was to become the number one tennis player in
06:52the world. As Kournikova transformed into a more mature athlete, she also suffered several major
06:57injuries. Speaking to The Guardian, Kournikova explained,
07:01"'In 97, I had a stress fracture and was out for three months.
07:04In 98, I had a torn ligament in my thumb and was out for three months.
07:08In 99, I had another stress fracture for three months. And then in 2001,
07:14I didn't basically play the whole year.'"
07:16Of all these injuries, the foot fracture that Kournikova suffered in 2001
07:20proved the most detrimental to her career. Not only did the injury land Kournikova in
07:25the operating room, but it also required a considerable amount of healing time.
07:29For an up-and-coming tennis star, this was disastrous. Weeks spent healing were
07:33weeks spent away from the court. And to truly be the best, Kournikova needed to train.
07:38As she told The Standard at the time, this injury caused her ranking to plummet to 55
07:43among female tennis stars. Although she remained popular with fans and continued to win endorsements,
07:48Kournikova was not satisfied with this. Her dream was to win a Grand Slam title,
07:53and it seemed to be slipping further out of reach.
07:56By the time 2003 came rolling around, Kournikova's injuries had become so painful that she had no
08:01choice other than to quit tennis. Although she was just 21 years old, it was clear that Kournikova
08:07needed to retire. Her body simply would not allow her to continue playing. In a 2011 conversation
08:13with People, the athlete opened up about her reasons for stepping back from the sport, saying,
08:18"'I never planned or thought that was going to be it. My back really forced me to stop.
08:23It got so bad I couldn't tie my shoes literally. I would be in excruciating pain. I had been doing
08:28six to eight hours every day since I was five years old." Even as she got older, the tennis
08:33star continued to suffer from back pain. In a 2010 appearance on The Graham Norton Show,
08:38Kournikova admitted that she still hadn't fully recovered from her injuries.
08:42"'I have five different problems in my back, but, um, it never bothers me in normal life,
08:47or when I'm just exercising. It really is because tennis is such unnatural movements for your body.
08:53It really screws up your body with all the twists and everything."
08:56Even with her young retirement and body-wracking injuries,
08:59Kournikova has always tried to stay positive.
09:01"'I like to look ahead. I don't like to sit back and get all
09:05melancholic and whatever about the past and stuff.'"
09:08Just because Kournikova retired, however, doesn't mean that she fully regained her privacy.
09:13Four years after her retirement, she remained popular enough to draw interest from fans across
09:18the globe. Making matters even more complicated, the press was fascinated by Anna Kournikova's
09:23romantic relationship with Enrique Iglesias. As readers clamored to learn more about the photogenic
09:28young couple, Kournikova and Iglesias found themselves to be frequent targets of paparazzi
09:34Unsurprisingly, Kournikova considered this both annoying and invasive.
09:38As The Athlete revealed in a 2008 interview with Sports Illustrated,
09:42she felt particularly frustrated when photographers would leer at her and Iglesias,
09:46often in an overtly interested way, saying,
09:50"'It goes with the job, but it gets annoying when you feel violated.
09:53Just take the picture and be done.'"
09:55Of course, there is no controlling the paparazzi,
09:57and Kournikova's pleas for respect likely went unheeded.
10:01Kournikova and Iglesias have largely appeared to deal with this by taking a step back from
10:04the public eye and living their lives in the privacy of their own home.
10:09Despite the tragedy of her early years, Kournikova's adult life has much improved.
10:13She is the mother of a son and two daughters, and she dedicates a considerable amount of time
10:18to philanthropic organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club.
10:21She even dished out some tough love on The Biggest Loser.
10:24It's not that big of a deal. You guys are the ones that are accomplishing
10:29the things. We're just telling you what to do."
10:32Even as Kournikova's life evolved, the ghosts of her past came back to haunt her.
10:36In 2010, her mother, Alla Kournikova, was arrested for child neglect.
10:41As reported by the Palm Beach Daily News, the local police took her briefly into custody
10:45after Alla's then-5-year-old son, Alan Kournikova,
10:48was found soaking wet and barefoot outside her Florida home.
10:52Alan told the officers that he had leapt out of the second-floor window,
10:55although he did not give an explanation as to why.
10:58Alla ultimately pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to three years' probation
11:02and 100 hours of community service.
11:05While this news may have been quite disturbing for Kournikova,
11:08she did not make any sort of public statement regarding her mother's legal troubles.