Drastic Open move after record-setting heat cooks Melbourne as villain survives scare \u2014 AO Wrap<\/a><\/p>\nAnna Kournikova pumps her fist in the match against Daniela Hantuchova.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do the waves and everything. It\u2019s really good,\u201d Kournikova said of her super-sized Aussie audience, whom she graced with 10 minutes of autograph signing afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that here they are much more into it and just more exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were suggestive signs, wolf whistles and throaty cheers. It swung between good-natured euphoria and testosterone-charged pimply ick.<\/p>\n
And it powered a then-record opening day crowd of 34,000.<\/p>\n
Anna Kournikova signs autographs after her first round match.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
Anna was the big drawcard, resplendent in a bright yellow Adidas top that she was being paid $10 million per year to wear, dwarfing the earnings of male stars like local hero Lleyton Hewitt. She also made women\u2019s tennis shorts an overnight sensation, a bridge too far even for 18-time major singles champion Martina Navratilova.<\/p>\n
Anna was the hottest ticket in town, closely marked by security guards as she ignited a frenzy wherever she went. She was even asked to weigh in on the burning Aussie issue of that tournament: Jelena Dokic\u2019s bombshell decision, under duress from infamous father Damir, to ditch representing Australia in favour of Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n
Dokic was booed mercilessly in a first-round loss to defending champion Lindsay Davenport.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody thinks of her as Australian. There\u2019s always two sides to the story \u2026 it\u2019s just tough on her I think right now,\u201d Kournikova said.<\/p>\n
Anna Kournikova during her first round victory, which was mighty popular at Melbourne Park.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
Round 2 pitted Kournikova against Hungarian battler Rita Kuti Kis, who Dokic savagely roasted the previous year after a shock loss in Round 1. \u201cI lost to a player who has never been a player and I guess probably never will be,\u201d Dokic had grumbled.<\/p>\n
No such problems for Kournikova, who won 6-3 6-4 despite an abdominal problem that was hindering her serve. A third round clash with doubles partner Barbara Schett was booked \u2013 and it had a spicy ending after Kournikova won 2-6 6-4 6-3.<\/p>\n
Asked afterwards if Kournikova was improving as a player, having already lost three WTA singles finals, Schett chose brutal honesty despite still being alive with the Russian in the doubles draw.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, at the moment I don\u2019t think she is improving. No, she isn\u2019t,\u201d Schett said.<\/p>\n
Anna Kournikova with tape on a sore stomach muscle.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
It was a solid whack and it made headlines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not good news for a woman who has not won a senior tennis title and desperately needs one to give credibility to her world ranking of No.8. Anna, you are not getting any better. Not a skerrick,\u201d wrote the late, great Patrick Smith for The Australian.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly for Anna Kournikova this observation was not made by some nong in the bleachers of show court one. And there were plenty of them there yesterday, one even dressed as a chicken. As the temperature rose into the mid-30s there was a smell of roast in the air. No, this is the opinion of occasional doubles partner and close friend Barbara Schett. And it was not an observation made without thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna Kournikova plays a backhand against Rita Kuti Kis.Source: News LimitedAnna Kournikova and Barbara Schett in action during their doubles match with Shinobu Asago and Yuka Yoshida.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
Kournikova was also fined $2000 after their match, having received a code violation for being coached by her mother, Alla, from the sidelines. It happened when she was trailing in the second set, her tournament on the brink of doom.<\/p>\n
From that scare she booked a fourth round clash against hobbled German Barbara Rittner, who was nursing a hurt left ankle. 6-3 6-1, Kournikova. Into the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
It was Kournikova\u2019s best result since a dream debut run to the 1997 Wimbledon semis at age 16. And it was good as things ever got again \u2026 before she\u2019d even turned 20.<\/p>\n
There was an ominous warm-up before Kournikova faced Davenport in the final eight. Playing doubles alongside Schett, Kournikova had a lit flare land within metres of her on court, damaging the surface and halting a match against Japanese pair Shinobu Asagoe and Yuka Yoshida for about 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuddenly something just dropped in front of me,\u2019\u2019 Kournikova said. \u201cYou can never expect something or see up front if something is going to happen. If you would know, you wouldn\u2019t go there or you wouldn\u2019t be there \u2014 you can never predict anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
A security guard removes a flare from Anna Kournikova\u2019s third round doubles match.Source: News LimitedAnna Kournikova and security staff watch the flare that was thrown onto court.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
A 15-year-old boy copped a caution from police. Perhaps he turned the match; Kournikova and Schett trailed 2-5 at the time and rallied to win 2-6 6-3 6-6, booking a quarter-final against the Williams sisters (which they lost 6-3 1-6 1-6).<\/p>\n
Kournikova had no more luck in her singles quarter. It was a 6-4 6-2 tennis lesson from Davenport, a better, more powerful player; albeit one who then lost to eventual champion Jennifer Capriati in the semis.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna Kournikova left at her appointed time,\u201d The Age\u2019s Greg Baum succinctly wrote.<\/p>\n
The recriminations began immediately. Annamania took a vicious turn.<\/p>\n
Anna Kournikova signing autographs for scores of male fans after the flare-hit doubles match … though not everyone was charmed.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m over Kournikova. As a red-blooded Aussie male, I know I\u2019m supposed to be besotted with the pony-tailed blonde bombshell \u2026 well, not me,\u201d Nick Papps wrote in the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past two weeks I\u2019ve watched her close-up at the Australian Open, in press conferences, matches, PR exercises and practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not stalking, it\u2019s research, and from where I\u2019ve been sitting I\u2019ve found her petulant, arrogant and vacuous.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s great until she opens her mouth. But the deep tan, blonde hair, beautiful smile and great physique start to wear a little thin after a few days.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn press conferences Kournikova\u2019s snapped at anyone who dares to mention she\u2019s played in more than 80 tournaments without a victory, she\u2019s been rude to her handlers who dared to consider allowing fans to talk to her in an autograph session and she\u2019s dared anyone to criticise her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know she\u2019s only 19 but after watching her play tennis, I can\u2019t help but wonder if she has become merely a clothes horse, paid $20 million a year to flog cute little yellow tops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna Kournikova signs autographs at the Australian Open.Source: News LimitedAnna Kournikova during her quarter-final loss to Lindsay Davenport.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
The big question had only gotten bigger: Would she ever win a singles title?<\/p>\n
\u201cI will,\u201d she snapped back in her exit press conference. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can never predict anything. You can never say it\u2019s going to happen tomorrow, in one year or in five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just have to keep working hard. I know that I\u2019m a good player. If I continue to improve the way I\u2019ve been improving, eventually my game will come together and everything will be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only it was not fine. At least not in singles.<\/p>\n
People sometimes forget that Kournikova was an excellent doubles player, who won two Australian Open titles (1999 and 2002). That\u2019s because her enduring failure to win a pro singles trophy became utterly crushing.<\/p>\n
She went 0-4 in finals and her body quickly turned against her, bringing her career to a shockingly rapid end. She missed every other slam in 2001 thanks to a stress fracture in her left foot, then lost in the first round of every major in 2002.<\/p>\n
She played her last WTA singles final in September that year, losing to Anna Smashnova at the SVW Polo Open Shanghai. Struck down relentlessly by injuries (predominantly crippling back problems), she said goodbye to the Australian Open in 2003 with a second-round loss to Justine Henin, and her pro singles career came to an abrupt end at age 21 a few months later.<\/p>\n
Her final pro singles match was in a $25,000 ITF event in Charlottesville, Virginia, and she lost first-up to 384th-ranked Brazilian qualifier Bruna Colosio.<\/p>\n
Barely two years on from that glorious run on Melbourne. Done … and forever condemned by claims that she favoured commercial success over on-court victories.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t that simple.<\/p>\n
Anna Kournikova v Justine Henin, Australian Open 2003. That was goodbye to Melbourne Park.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in the spotlight since I was a child was really hard,\u201d she later said, having turned pro at age 14.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did feel pressure when people were saying things like, \u2018You\u2019re too pretty, you can\u2019t play\u2019, or whatever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would get so nervous and get anxiety on the court, I wouldn\u2019t be able to move.\u201d<\/p>\n
After that, there were only scattered doubles exhibition appearances … and the last of note was at Wimbledon 16 years ago. ESPN in 2005 ranked her No.18 on a list of the 25 biggest sports flops of the past 25 years.<\/p>\n
While the Australian Open of 2001 was the last truly magical moment of her singles career, it was not the most significant thing that happened to her that year. A first date with singer Enrique Iglesias takes that honour, given that the pair are still together and have four children; the youngest born just last December.<\/p>\n
Kournikova, now 44, mixes her job as a mum with philanthropy and endorsement gigs, and boasts 2.1 million Instagram followers.<\/p>\n
She has bordered on being a hermit, relative to the insane fame of her youth. <\/p>\n
Yet those who were at Melbourne Park in 2001 won\u2019t ever forget the wild days of Annamania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Annamania was foretold by a snarky New Year\u2019s prediction. \u201cA lot of pictures will be taken of Anna…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[229721,2095,204071,1724,64,63,689,222903,229706,229725,229728,42341,229745,512,229722,229733,41280,229711,229729,229737,29531,222918,218708,9239,198836,800,229750,40506,229708,229746,229718,229743,229738,6663,229709,37660,229713,229723,17443,229715,2041,2067,229716,677,229741,103634,229724,229712,6177,229739,229740,229747,229742,113042,229717,4933,229719,229744,108968,229710,76106,229749,120073,229736,229748,229735,229730,229731,85,229734,19088,747,229714,229732,229727,229707,104568,2614,4899,29739,229720,229726],"class_list":["post-441793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-alla","tag-america","tag-anna-kournikova","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-open-tennis","tag-autograph-session","tag-barbara-schett","tag-bizarre-ballgirl-request","tag-bombshell-decision","tag-charlottesville","tag-china","tag-clothes-horse","tag-code-violation","tag-daniela-hantuchova","tag-dark-ending","tag-doubles-draw","tag-doubles-exhibition-appearances","tag-doubles-match","tag-doubles-player","tag-dream-debut","tag-eastern-asia","tag-enrique-iglesias","tag-espn-inc","tag-european-teenage-girls","tag-exit-press-conference","tag-flare-hit-doubles-match","tag-frustration-boil","tag-hungarian-battler","tag-jamie-cole","tag-justine-henin-hardenne","tag-lindsay-davenport","tag-lit-flare-land","tag-lleyton-hewitt","tag-male-fans","tag-male-stars","tag-martina-navratilova","tag-nick-papps","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-occasional-doubles-partner","tag-oceania","tag-opening-day-crowd","tag-patrick-smith","tag-paul-connolly","tag-pony-tailed-blonde-bombshell","tag-press-conferences","tag-professional-singles-title","tag-quarter-final-loss","tag-record-setting-heat-cooks","tag-scattered-doubles-exhibition","tag-security-staff","tag-senior-tennis-title","tag-shanghai","tag-show-court","tag-signing-autographs","tag-signs-autographs","tag-singles-career","tag-singles-champion","tag-singles-finals","tag-singles-match","tag-singles-quarter","tag-singles-title","tag-singles-trophy","tag-smashes-racquet","tag-sore-stomach-muscle","tag-sports","tag-sports-flops","tag-stress-fracture","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-crowd","tag-tennis-lesson","tag-tennis-shorts","tag-then-record-opening-day","tag-tim-elbra","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-virginia","tag-world-ranking","tag-young-males","tag-yuka-yoshida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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