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By Cathy Richey, the Cathy Factor

Anna Kournikova was born on June 7, 1981, in Moscow, Russia. She was an only child.

Anna was encouraged to be involved in sports. Her interest in playing tennis had grown since she was a child, supported by her father, Sergei Kournikov. He was a tennis instructor and a professor at the University of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow.

Anna received her first tennis racket from her parents for Christmas at age 5. She then began to play and practice in such tennis courts as Moscow's Soklniki Park and the upper-class Spartak Tennis Club coached by the husband of Russian pro Olga Morozova, despite her parents' modest income. She practiced with her first tennis coach, Larissa Preobraschenskaja, from 1985 to 1989. She started appearing in junior competitions regularly and quickly caught the eye of local tennis scouts.

In 1992, Anna moved to Florida with her mother to sign up with the renowned Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. This academy has produced such tennis legends as Monica Seles and Andre Agassi. After training at the academy for three years, Kournikova represented Russia in the Fed Cup 1995 match and she became the youngest player ever to win the match. She started to catch spectator's eyes when she triumphed at the European Championships and Italian Open juniors. In late 1995, Anna ranked No.1 and was crowned the ITF Junior World Champion.

Anna turned pro in 1996 as the ITF Junior World Champion and reached the fourth round in her first Grand Slam tournament at the U.S. Open that year. She also went to the semifinals in her first Wimbledon appearance in 1997, but was defeated by the final champion, Steffi Graf, in the 4th round.

1998 was probably Anna's glory year. She was the first Russian female at the U.S. Open since 1976. She reached the Top 10 of the singles rankings that year. She also defeated Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals at the 1998 German Open and became the ninth-youngest player to defeat a No. 1 tennis player before turning 17 since 1968. Anna also set a record of the fastest serve at 111.2 mph during the Paris Indoors match of 1998.

At the 1999 ITF tournament in Midland, Michigan, Kournikova won her first professional title. She also won her first Grand Slam doubles title at the 1999 Australian Open with her partner Martina Hingis. Anna ended the season with a career ranking of No. 8 and later moved down in the rankings to No. 19.

Anna later tried her hand in acting, appearing as a motel manager in Jim Carrey's comedy movie Me, Myself & Irene. She was chosen to appear in Enrique Iglesias' music video for the song "Escape." Meanwhile, the blonde beauty also branched out into modeling. She was a model for such product ads as Adidas, Yonex, Berlei and Omega.

Anna Kournikova is probably the only tennis player who has successfully developed her career beyond the tennis court by establishing herself in the entertainment industry as well.

Anna was the most photographed woman in sports by 2002. She is widely recognized not only for her performance on the tennis court but also for her stunning looks. Blonde-haired, 5' 8" tall Kournikova was listed as one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" four times, in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003. She also posed for the cover of Sports Illustrated in the June 2000 edition and was featured in Sports Illustrated in the Swimsuit Edition in 2004.

As for her personal life, Anna was once engaged to NHL star Pavel Bure of the Florida Panthers. She was rumored to be secretly married to Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias and was allegedly briefly married to Russian born NHL hockey player Sergei Federov.

Anna had experienced a stress fracture of her left foot in 2001, but it was a lower back injury Anna sustained that hindered her performances on the tennis court. Having never won a major tennis tournament as of January 2004, Anna retired from professional tennis in March 2004. Since then she has appeared on several magazine covers, done modeling, and appeared in television series and shows including "The View," "Open Access" and "The Apprentice 2."

About Cathy: She and her Doberman Trooper conduct research into all kinds of topics and produce articles like the one you see here. To contact Cathy, write to thecathyfactor@yahoo.com. Get the facts from Cathy, and let the Cathy Factor give you an edge.