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August 31, 2002 (II)
Anna ON Enrique
I still have a BIG problem with the pic below! This is simply NOT the Anna I would like to see and portray here! Anna Kournikova - for YEARS a dedicated tennis player for me, okay with offcourt-related stuff like Omega-presentations and various photo shoots! BUT ACTING LIKE THIS???? Okay, I see that Anna and Enrique are dating each other and that he is her boyfriend right now!
Of course also THE SUN features a story of this: "Anna's Enri is feeling cheeky"! There, an "onlooker" (great term!!) is quoted as saying: "They were holding hands as they posed for the cameras and weren’t shying away from showing their feelings as they have always done in the past." UNFORTUNATELY the pictures proof this - Anna, Anna, Anna!

> I would like to quote a post from "carling" which I think sums it up the whole VMA-stuff VERY VERY good:

"While I share your disappointment in Anna's play, life goes on. There's nothing wrong with her going out and enjoying herself! Is she supposed to slit her wrists for losing a tennis match? It's like you want Anna to punish herself and that's ridiculous.
I would like to see Anna become the player she has the potential to be, but I'm realistic enough to know that it simply may not happen. If it doesn't, it won't be because of Enrique, Fedorov, or VMA parties. It will be because Anna didn't have the mental strength required to be a top tennis player.
As far as I'm concerned, all this talk about Enrique is much ado about nothing. He's Anna's boyfriend. She had a boyfriend before him and she'll have others after him. Anna's a beautiful, vital, 21 year old woman. She's going to have lovers throughout her life. The fact that she's a celebrity only means everybody will know about them.
Tennis is Anna's JOB not her LIFE, and who she dates has nothing to do with how she hits a tennis ball. Anna hired Harold Solomon to take care of her professional needs, and she has Enrique to take care of her personal ones. YOU GO GIRL!" (posted by "carling" at official messageboard)

I agree with you carling but FOR ME: Seeing Anna sitting on top of him... it just makes me sad because I like "another" Anna much much more!

 

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August 31, 2002
Anna & Martina in Doubles today / Anna ON Enrique / Videostore-EXTRA
Anna is back at the US Open... after her very-well timed "time-out" at the VMA's (the media will NEVER ever again consider her to be a serious tennis player :-((( ) she will team up with Martina Hingis once again in Doubles, see today's schedule:

Arthur Ashe stadium - start: 7:00 pm local (1:00 CET sunday morning)

Coetzer vs Hingis
Shaughnessy vs Capriati
Hingis/Kournikova vs Granville/Hopkins

Personally I really doubt that Anna and Martina will play SO late. Assuming that the first 2 matches take about 1 and a half hours, plus rest for Hingis - it would be at least 10:30 pm local (4:00 CET sunday morning) that the Doubles match start...! Well, we'll see! But anyway: Good luck, Anna! Show good Tennis instead of feeding your critics by appearing at the VMA's!

Anna ON Enrique: I don't care about how Anna (who will NEVER take a look at this page) or Enrique MIGHT think about this - I am in a mood that I even considered closing DOWN annaforever.de FOREVER. Why? Look at the Pic below:

Anna, IN GENERAL you can do whatever you want but SUCH A THING in PUBLIC...this is simply not the "Anna" I fell in love with! This is a publicity-driven Anna and basically: Hey Anna, why don't you shoot a "private shooting" with Enrique and show it all over the world like Pam and Tommy back a few years????!

SORRY, I hope that this feeling gets away again but this pic  is TRUE and it makes me mad! I cannot believe it in fact! I am sad! She is on sitting on his legs, his hands on her legs, both short before kissing each other intensively. I think - HEY ANNA, YOU LOST ON MONDAY, PLAYED YOUR WORST TENNIS MATCH EVER. YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT AND ALSO WHAT THE PRESS WILL WRITE ABOUT T H A T???? in the end it seems so at least!

Videostore-EXTRA: A new idea of mine is an advantage for Y O U:
For every videoorder you make you'll get 1 picture from Anna (no jpg, a "real" picture to keep in your pocket all the time) as well as 7 address labels from annaforever.de which you can put on your desk, wardrobe or whatever.

Time frame for this EXTRA:August 1 - September 1, 2002

choose Video(s) and order

 

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August 30, 2002
no Doubles today / ANNA WITH ENRIQUE AT MTV's VMA / Binge's "Anna Kournikova"-CD
Anna and Martina should have played Doubles 2nd Round TODAY but due to the heavy rain yesterday the match has been rescheduled for tomorrow! See today's US Open-Schedule!

August 30, 2002 (II)
ANNA WITH ENRIQUE AT MTV's VMA: Anna attended MTV's VMA-Show yesterday at Radio City Music Hall in New York - together wit ENRIQUE IGLESIAS (of course)! Both were holding hands, he was touching her behind and she did wear a revealing, stomach-free all-white outfit! See some pictures (type in "Kournikova" in the Search at left side)

- Reactions: The Fans already are sharing their opinions about THIS public appearance by Anna. Some quotes from the "Anna's at the VMA's"-Thread (FANS-Forum at official Messageboard): "I can't believe she had the nerve to show up there after embarrassing herself at US Open" (the_cat_in_the_hat), "Anna, WAKE THE F*** UP" (Steam), "There is no doubt Anna & Enrique have a romantic/sexual interest" (typh00nz)!

- TV Schedule: For those who REALLY want to see Anna arriving with Enrique and also sitting next to him during the show, here's german MTV's VMA02-Schedule:
 

- TV-reports: I have just seen RTL-punkt12-reports and there I've seen ANNA NEXT TO ENRIQUE during the show! And: Markus Kavka (MTV Europe VJ) said, quote: "As Enrique walked off the stage after the show together with Kylie Minogue I saw Anna following him. Apparently she wanted to make sure that he doesn't get a grip on Kylie!" (rough translation)
ZDF's "Leute heute" just showed seconds from where Anna and Enrique walked in as well as how she was giving applause next to him while Michael Jackson was on stage! RTL "Exclusiv" and SAT1 "Blitz" named Anna as the girl next to Enrique ("tennisqueen"), fortunately no further "news"!

- My opinion + conclusion: I saw this coming: When I first saw "Escape" in February I thought: "Oh my god. In the end both hang out together at the VMA"! I don't lie - I saw this coming and I'm deeply frustrated that THIS has become reality right now!!! ANNA, WHAT IS GOING ON??? Is this your kind of forgetting your worst-ever performance oncourt??? I have (still...) no doubt that she is committed but NOW she seems that she wants to show the world "Yes, we are a couple" (especially now that I know what Kavka did see...)! I am frustrated because I don't like Enrique and especially because NOW Anna will never get a good reputation as a tennis player again. NO WAY - Journalists, TV commentators etc will NEVER talk about her again as a great tennis player. Her ridiculous performance on monday vs Widjaja combined with her appearance with Enrique at the VMA yesterday - great effort for your reputation Anna!
I am angry and disappointed - right now I really think that I DON'T WANT to go to neither Leipzig nor Filderstadt! Just to see how she is calling Enrique or what??? - No!

Binge's "Anna Kournikova"-CD: More "great" offcourt stuff! BINGE now released their "Anna Kournikova"-Album which features the track "Anna Kournikova". Nothing new so far (the track made its way through the net via mp3 one year ago) but NOW a videoclip reportedly is available with "rare footage" of Anna's 2002 Mexico beach Photoshooting!!!! And: On August 28, 2002 there should have been a Release Party and Anna should have been there, too! The whole thing is TRUE obviously because you can also access these infos from kournikova.com!!!!! More of this< 

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August 29, 2002
Tough Doubles WIN - next match / NO MIXED / msnbc / BILD with "Russians vs Anna" / 200000 :-)))))))))
Anna and Martina played anything but their best Doubles match so far but in the end they dominated at least the decisive 3rd set - 7:5,5:7,6:3 the tight score. Both will play their 2nd Round against Laura Granville & Jennifer Hopkins on friday - see the friday Schedule as soon as it is released

NO MIXED: I was surprised when I took a look to the Mixed Draw and Anna wasn't in there! It seems that she just wants to play Doubles and not Mixed Doubles as well - whatever her reasons may be!

msnbc: msnbc.com features a string of reports about Anna - I can understand that they are predominantly negative because of course I also know that she played extremely bad on monday in Singles! Report 1 | Report 2 | more Reports (go to Tennis)

BILD with "Russians vs Anna": What the F*** is going on??? Anna played one of her worst matches (if not the worst one ever) - okay. But now comes the german BILD with the quotes, reportedly made by Russians: "QUIT PLAYING TENNIS, ANNA" Hey, you F***ing Russians: Have you ever thought how Anna would feel when she reads comments like this??? Why do you thinks she doesn't care about her Tennis? bild.t-online.de (go to "Sport")

200000 :-)))))))):  ANNAFOREVER.DE has reached the 200000 hits-mark!!!!! I am proud to be the Administrator of this website and want to say a BIG BIG THANK YOU to all of you who support me, to those who allow me to display their pictures. Another big thanx to the official Messageboard - THE news source No.1! I intend to give you something for free to show you my appreciation so over the next few days I will give you further details!!!

 

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August 28, 2002 (II)
Doubles 1st Rd NOW/ All vs Anna & worrying quote / Sabatini-support / Diashow: new outfit
Anna and Martina are already playing!!! Score at 23:10 CET, 5:10 pm local - 7:5,3:4 for Anna and Martina! Seems to be close (DAMN) - GO ANNA AND MARTI!!!!! The match surprisingly had been moved to Arthur Ashe stadium (great to predict...):

LIVE SCORE HERE and HERE

I assume that Anna's Doubles match starts at approx. 5:00-6:30 pm (23:00-0:30 CET) but once again: It is incredible hard to predict timings, especially after Men's Singles match. Example: Safin vs Kiefer yesterday which took nearly 4 1/2 hours!!!!
Anna has faces Perebiynis once - also together with Martina! Both defeated Perebiynis (teamed up with Ellwood) easily 6:2,6:2 on their way to the 2nd Aussie Open Doubles Trophy :-)

All vs Anna & worrying quote: Reports about Anna's disastrous 1st Round-defeat on monday are available all over -
> bild.t-online.de even features quotes from former tennis greats!!! Quotes (rough translation): Billie Jean King "Tennis without sense and mind", Chris Evert "A huge setback back to old times", John McEnroe "if you play like that you have to think about whether you have the right job or not"!
Why didn't these quotes pop up anywhere else so far??? - Were they ever spoke out by the 3 individuals at all???
> nypost.com features new quotes from Anna and I am really worried about these quotes (I still didn't find a FULL transcript of the post match press conference): "The good thing is I did play well the last couple of months", "I don't have an explanation, yet", "I think I'm going to go and think to a conclusion what happened. I don't want to make fast decisions." article
OH NO, ANNA! What should that mean?? "fast decisions"??? - Does the thought really crosses her mind "maybe I should retire"??? I don't even want to think about that!
> sport1.de features an article as well which states that Anna has reached the lowest point in her career! The Fans were booing after she lost and they start to lose patience with Anna!!! sport1.de-article

Sabatini supports: At least one former great tennis player has some kind of support for Anna after this disastrous performance - Gabriela Sabatini (US Open-Champion back in 1990) recently said: "She's been in the Top 10 and she has the game to be there. It's just a matter of having her objectives clear, wanting to be there." article
Well, she really could be right on that to some extent. But in general, I don't doubt Anna's commitment to Tennis and her will for success. In the end it was probably the worst day in her career - at least I hope so!

Diashow: new outfit: sport1.de has set up a little Diashow with Anna's new outfit she was supposed to wear at the year's final Grand Slam, the US Open. I don't know why Anna did wear the "old" Outfit in the 1st Round - maybe she was pretty sure she could wear the new all-blue coloured outfit in the upcoming rounds... Diashow

 

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August 28, 2002
Adidas representative about Anna... / Doubles 1st Round TODAY / more Reports / Picutres
According to this ESPN-article Claus Marten, head of global sports marketing in Adidas' tennis division, had this to say about Anna's recent 1st round-disaster against relatively unknown Angelique Widjaja from Indonesia: "I feel very sorry for her right now." Furthermore: "It's not like we're trying to beat a dead horse...I've tried to do all I can to help but it's tough!"
I already mentioned it that Anna's main sponsors might start to let her down now...although this sentence says that it is YET not the case: "He has NO PLANS of SEVERING the company's ties with Kournikova" and he mentions that research studies still show that Anna is Adidas's most recognizable athlete!
Personally I am sure that sponsors like Adidas, Berlei etc. WILL consider to severance from Anna IF SHE DOESN'T MANAGE TO WIN AGAIN SOON! For sure this won't help Anna to get rid of her mental problems, her nerves but the modern marketing strategies are cruel, cruel, cruel!

Doubles 1st Round today: Anna and Martina start their Doubles reunion today - against Perebiynis/Poutchek. See the Full wednesday schedule:

Grandstand - start: 11:00 am local (CET -6 hours)

Nalbandian vs Sargsian
Henman vs Kotela
Dementieva vs Schiavone
Kournikova/Hingis vs Perebiynis/Poutchek

I assume that Anna's Doubles match starts at approx. 5:00-6:30 pm (23:00-0:30 CET) but once again: It is incredible hard to predict timings, especially after Men's Singles match. Example: Safin vs Kiefer yesterday which took nearly 4 1/2 hours!!!!
Anna has faces Perebiynis once - also together with Martina! Both defeated Perebiynis (teamed up with Ellwood) easily 6:2,6:2 on their way to the 2nd Aussie Open Doubles Trophy :-)

more Reports: Media continues to write Anna off - I DON'T SUPPORT THIS AT ALL!!!! Look in the current BILD newspaper (print version) - Serena gets praised as the new "sex queen" (more or less) and this is just ridiculous - Online-BILD | Excite | kournikova.com (talking about "temporary setback")

Pictures: See pictures from Anna's disastrous 1st Round match yesterday, also VidCaps by "Robin_Love" in it - official Messageboard
> Photos Exchange
> Members Photos
> US OPEN-Thread

 

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August 27, 2002 (III)
Anna about the match / Doubles News / Picutres
Despite this horrible match Anna played yesterday againt Widjaja she is still in the tournament - in Doubles AND Mixed as well (remember her run to the Final in 2000 with Max Mirnyi???):
“I’m still in the tournament, so I’m just going to practise and go out there and play a totally different game!"
Anna is aware what will be coming now: Media "attacks", fans might still boo her out also in Doubles and many frustrating things:
"I mean, it is hard to be around, but it’s fine.”
I have also read comments that Anna might be outburned already but Anna DOESN'T give up and so do I:
"If I didn't think I could improve, I wouldn't be trying!"
In the end Anna had just this to sum up this bad bad day where Anna possibly played one of her worst-ever Singles matches:
"Today was just a very bad match for me."
More Interview-cuts

Doubles news: Anna and Martina are the 5th seeded in this Grand Slam Tournament and they first meet Tatiana Perebiynis/Tatiana Poutchek in Doubles 1st Round. Full Doubles Draw

 

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August 27, 2002 (II)
The disastrous defeat - possible reasons
Well, I am still deeply frustrated about this horrible 1st Round-defeat but now I was able to read some posts at the official messageboard as well as a few articles...! I want to say a few words to some statements:
"seemed emotionless"
> I also had this impression a little bit when I was watching the match vs Ruano-Pascual in Montreal a few days ago! But now I start to think that Anna is SO immensely frustrated and doesn't know WHY nothing works within her game that she simply is TOO frustrated to show signs of frustrations like shouting out loud etc.!

"needs sports psychologist"
> This was written in the tennisreporters.net-article by Matthew Cronin! I really don't know if the situation is really that worse but in fact - maybe he is right! I am no expert but Anna really has to find a way to get more mental stability! Like he said: Harold can change the technical stuff but he isn't a psychologist and has no influence on what is going on in Anna's mind! I can't influence that neither but for sure she suffers under this immense pressure from the press, from her fans who want to see her playing well, want to see her winning and most important: She wants to prove herself that she can play very well and tries everything - but that ends up in getting nervous if the first faults come in and if this begins she doesn't know how to handle the situation right now!

"she's so committed..."
> Also taken from the tennisreporters.net-report by Matthew Cronin! Like I said in the last paragraph: Anna desperately wants to perform well, wants to play well, wants to deliver a great match. But as soon as the first faults appear she gets nervous, starts to hurry up and isn't able to calm down, analyze her faults and modify her game!

"The only thing Anna wants right now is to win some significant matches on the big stage"
> Taken from the same article - I think he is absolutely right with that! "For some reason" Anna wasn't in neither this match nor the one in Montreal vs Ruano-Pascual. THIS PROBLEM (whatever it may be) seems to be one of major reason if not THE major reason why things on the tenniscourt absolutely doesn't work out for Anna right now!

 

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August 27, 2002 (I)
3:6,0:6 and out - what the hell is going on??? / Interview / Doubles-Draw / Intention
And I was talking about reaching the Quarterfinal...! The match took just 44 minutes and must have been on of Anna's poorest performances ever!!! Yesterday evening (CET) a friend of mine provided m with the scores and I couldn't believe what he was sending me to my mobile phone. I don't know what to say anymore...!
According to reports Anna seemed off-balanced, UNPREPARED (how can THIS be???) and even BOOED out by fans who were hoping to get an autograph from Anna - but she quickly left Louis Armstrong stadium! Widjaja won with making just one single winner and no ace at all - is this possible??? Anna committed more than 40 unforced errors, 22 just in the 1st set!!! I have nothing more to say to this.
Anna has no lost ALL of her Grand Slam Singles matches this year - she last won a Grand Slam Singles match back at the Australian Open 2001 - and can win her next Grand Slam Singles match 2 years after that :-(((((
I am more than shocked! Sports Illustrated | Bloomberg.com | Post match analysis

Interview: I have just seen a few Interview-cuts, obviously usopen.org decided NOT to post the transcript, just the Stream video! But a few quotes:
"It was a very bad match for me. I played totally the wrong way. I was going for winners after the second shot. I just was not in the match."
Sorry Anna but HOW CAN IT BE THAT YOU ARE NOT IN THE MATCH???? Are you not interested anymore or not focused?? I simply don't get it anymore!
"I didn't expect it to be this way. I made a million mistakes."
Right Anna but WHY??? really just one of your worst days???
"I felt like I tried everything and nothing was going my way."
Hopefully you tried everything - according to my friend's notes you appeared as if you gave up early in the match!
"I'm not trying to prove myself to anybody"
Well,you should prove yourself how good you still can be! Finally this phrase out of an article I would like to quote completely:
"Asked if she was concerned that photographers might lose interest in her if she continues to play poorly, Kournikova said: 'Oh good. Good if they don't show up anymore.'" Anna NEVER reacted that "hard" against the media/photographers before. Phrases like "I can't change it" etc she used previously!

This whole thing makes me really really sad - Hantuchova gets praised, Anna gets bashed! Right now I just have to realize that this really happened! More analysis to come!

Doubles Draw: The Doubles Draw for the US Open is out and at least Anna is still in this competition - my dream team with Martina Hingis! Full Doubles Draw! Both are seeded 5th and face Tatiana Perebiynis/Tatiana Poutchek in the 1st round, most likely tomorrow.

Intention: I don't want to sound to offensive or even INSULT Anna - no way! I am just deeply depressed about this desastrous defeat in less than 45 minutes against a player should have easily beaten! I haven't seen the match yet (friday I am able to do this) but she MUST have played horribly! The Question I don't find an answer for is WHY???? Many thoughts pop up in my mind:
- Is it because of Enrique's in New York this week and therefore she simply can't focus on tennis?
- Is it just because Anna isn't able to play on a constant level and will always have such terrible days from time to time?
- Are there any minor injuries we don't know anything about (abdominal strain)??

There are more thoughts in my mind but these are the significant ones! 4 1st Round-defeats in Singles in this year's Grand Slam-Tournaments... nothing more to say!

 

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August 26, 2002
Anna vs A.Widjaja...  / Ranking News / Todd Spiker's US Open-Preview
Anna plays her 1st Round match vs Angelique Widjaja TODAY...Full Monday schedule

Armstrong stadium - match play starts 11:00 a.m. local (CET -6 hours)

Norman vs Costa
Kafelnikov vs Sanguinetti
Kournikova vs Widjaja (LIVE WEB-COVERAGE)

ACTUAL TIME: 4:30 p.m. local (22:30 CET) - Kafelnikov is leading by 2:1 sets and predicting he wins in 4 sets ANNA vs WIDJAJA will start at around 5:00 pm local - 23:00 CET! Turn on Eurosport for all Europeans - most likely they'll show the match live!
I apologize for all "wrong" estimates I make with the match start-timings but this is really very very hard to predict!

Ranking News: Anna's Singles Ranking remains the same since she hasn't played New Haven last week - still 37th with 872 points. In Doubles she gained 1 point but her position didn't change - 9th ranked! In the "Race to the Championships"-Ranking Anna lost 1 position in Singles (27th with 821 points) as well as in Doubles (11th with 1631 points)!

Todd Spiker's US Open-Preview: This is what this guy said about Anna's chances at the Open: "Don't laugh, but she's got a real shot at a breakthrough here that would silence the critics who love to snicker at her tennis results.  Harold Solomon's work reaped rewards on this summer's hardcourts.  A 3r rematch of her San Diego thriller against Dokic could be the Open's most glamorous night session match in years (an maybe ever)."

Oh YES! Anna definitely deserves a very good run deep in the draw. Hopefully she'll advance to the Quarterfinal or even further!

 

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August 25, 2002
1st Round-match tomorrow / Arthur Ashe Kids Day & Pics
The Schedule for the 1st day of this year's US Open is out - Anna already plays tomorrow, see: (Full Monday schedule)

Armstrong stadium - match play starts 11:00 a.m. local (CET -6 hours)

Norman vs Costa
Kafelnikov vs Sanguinetti
Kournikova vs Widjaja

I assume that Anna's match starts at approx. 4:00-5:00 p.m. local (22:00-23:00 CET) but it is always hard to predict the length of a men's Singles match, especially in the opening round of an Grand Slam! Detailed infos about Angelique Widjaja!

Arthur Ashe Kids Day & Pics: Yesterday Anna among others (Serena Williams, Andre Agassi) participated  in the stadium show and had a lot of fun! See a few pictures | read more | 47 Thumbnail-pics from this event

 

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August 24, 2002
US OPEN: Widjaja 1st & possible opponents / Chris Evert about Anna
The US Open 2002-Draw has been released and Anna faces Angelique Widjaja in the opening Round (detailed Widjaja-infos). Both players NEVER met each other before so I really expect a tough match for Anna! Widjaja has already won her 1st WTA Singles Title back in Bali last year - as the first player since Justine Henin back in 1999 who managed to win her debut WTA Singles event!!!! BE CAREFUL, ANNA - don't underestimate this 17-year-old girl!!!  Possible further opponents for Anna (Full Main Singles Draw):

2nd Round vs Alexandra Stevenson (seeded 31)
(Anna recently beat her in San Diego (1st Round) 6:0,6:1 so Stevenson will be really keen to get revenge)

3rd Round vs Jelena Dokic (seeded 5)
(what an 3rd Round-opponent - Anna almost won back in San Diego's final but in the end she lost and it would be a very very hard match)

4th Round vs Elena Dementieva (seeded 12)
(Anna won their only meeting in Tokyo's 2nd Round this year 7:6,7:6 and I assume this match would be easier than the match vs Dokic)

Quarterfinal vs Lindsay Davenport (seeded 4)
(although Lindsay was out of competition for many months she is still one of the best players on the Tour and even if Anna manages to come so far at the US Open I think that she won't be able to beat Lindsay :-(((( )

What is YOUR OPINION??? How far will Anna come at the US Open???

Chris Evert about Anna: Isn't it always the same??? If Anna plays bad everyone is bashing Anna, if she plays well the same persons start supporting her again. So did Chris Evert recently: "I have a lot of respect for Kournikova’s new coach, Harold Solomon. After a disappointing first-round loss at Wimbledon, Kournikova has really turned things around under Solomon, making the semifinals at the Acura Classic, where she lost to Jelena Dokic in three sets. Kournikova actually had a match point against Dokic, so that was very impressive.
Kournikova has recently made more of a commitment to her game than I have seen the last three or four years. I credit that to Solomon, who really helped Jennifer Capriati’s career. He’ll make sure Kournikova’s fitness level is extremely high. I expect her to keep getting solid results.
Kournikova’s draw sets up very nicely at the U.S. Open. She shouldn’t have too much of a problem winning her first two matches and that would set her up for a potential third-round matchup with Dokic. Kournikova has proven she can hit with Dokic, so it wouldn’t surprised me if she beat the Yugoslavian at this major." More

 

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August 23, 2002
Nick's comments about Anna... / Videos / Montreal02-TEARS-Details / HTML navigation added
This is what Nick Bolettieri recently said about Anna: "Her mom had too much to do with her career and never let a coach really develop the game that Anna should have gone to. Her strokes are too long and too flat from the baseline and she never developed the serve. Did her modeling get in the way? I don't think so. The problems with her techniques started a long time ago. She came to me at 9 1/2 and she was here about five or six years. We put a lot of effort into her. It disappoints me tremendously because I think Anna Kournikova is a tremendous girl."

This is hard...but to be honest: I think he is saying the truth and Anna's parents really have been a major reason why a coach couldn't improve Anna's game drastically! I totally agree with him regarding her offcourt activities - no distraction at all (HELLO BRITISH PRESS!!!!). In the end it is definitely one of the most frustrating summaries of Anna's development as a tennisplayer so far and I can only point out his final sentence - I am also disappointed because I know that Anna is a tremendous girl.
HAROLD SOLOMON and Anna's passion for and commitment to the game remain my hope for the future, for a lucky end!

Videos: Most of you will be aware of Stefan's AK Mpeg Site but for those who don't - download unique videos from San Diego 2002 and Montreal 2002 (just to mention his latest updates) at Stefan's AK Mpeg Site!

Montreal02-TEARS-Details: "mobb_deep_qb" (member of official Messageboard) was an eyewitness of what was going on at practise courts in Montreal on August 11, 2002: "she received phone calls during breaks...asked coach to guess who's calling...he guessed right according to her face expression...suddenly put hand over mouth, seemed terrified...stupid fans laughed, asked "Did Sergei find another girl?"...seemed as if she was crying a bit...Anna sat down behind a table...made calls with other cell phone...talked to coach and friend which came down from stands with her permission...started practising again"!

Thanx to "mobb_deep_qb" - THIS seems to have been her reaction to "something what happened back home"! Whatever this may have been - hopefully it wasn't anything dramatic!

HTML navigation added: Today I created a simple HTML navigation as an alternative to the existing Flash-Navigation at the top! Nowadays most of the users should have the Flash-PlugIn on their PCs but just for those who refuse to install this useful PlugIn I decided to offer a good old HTML navigation at the top as well!
PS: Suggestion, critics etc I do always appreciate!!!

 

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August 21, 2002
Anna meets Lycos contest winner / FHM-Special
Anna meets Lycos contest winner: Do you remember the "Win a trip for 4"-contest which was running on kournikova.com in the beginning of 2002 (one guy and 3 buddies could win an "once-in-a-lifetime"-trip to an exclusive photoshooting with Anna)??? Well, I don't know exactly if this photoshooting has already taken place or if this is still to come but further details were released:
The photo shoot was/is in Miami for a Lycos Advertising Campaign! DON GARECHT (political staffer in Washington D.C.) won this contest (lucky guy!!!). Quotes from Anna: "I really enjoy chatting online with my fans who go to my Web site"! Steven Gross, vice president of marketing for Terra Lycos U.S.: "Anna & Terra Lycos are a great match."

FHM-Special: fhmus.com is currently running kind of an "Anna-Special"! This features an unique "Behind the scenes"-Video of this unique "Sexiest Woman in the world 2002"-Photoshooting in Tamaulipas (Mexico) back in March 2002 as well as a Wallpaper in various resolutions and of course the pictures of the photoshooting!

 

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August 20, 2002
LEIPZIG WITHOUT ANNA?????? / Minnesota-exhibition / Hantuchova-marketing / Photographer-incident
August 12th marked the last day where players could initially confirm their participance at the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig (September 23-29, 2002) - ANNA ISN'T IN THE INITIAL COMMITMENT LIST :-(((((((((((((((((((((! BUT: I do remember how things went on back in 2000 - Henner Ziegfeld (Leipzig's tournament director) went to the US Open where he asked Anna if she would like to come to Leipzig - Anna came! Okay, back in 2000 the tournament still took place in the beginning of November and not already in September but also last year it wasn't sure up to the last minutes if Anna can give her comeback in Leipzig but she did!
So to sum this up: I start to get worried if I still don't know anything further in the 2nd or 3rd week of September!

Minnesota-exhibition: On December 14, 2002 Anna will take part in an exhibition which takes place at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. First, there will be an 8-games-match between the Jenson-brothers vs Harsh Mankad/Thomas Haug and afterwards a 3-set-match between Anna and Monica Seles. More news & tickets to order

Hantuchova-marketing: Media seems to focus more and more on Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova - more!
Personally: YES, she is a talented and good player but in terms of beauty, aura and personality there is no one like Anna and there never will be.
No matter how many photoshootings, magazine covers, endorsement deals, tv coverage, websites etc etc Hantuchova will ever have - Anna is unique TO ME and Daniela never will be! She has nice legs but is TOOO thin in general!

Photographer-incident: According to News from "El Gordo y la Flaca" (I assume a spanish newspaper) Photographer Angel Mora was arrested in the end because he didn't want to stop photographing Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova at a japanese restaurant in South Beach, Miami last saturday or sunday night. He, Angel Mora, spent 2 nights in jail together with wife who was pregnant (6 1/2 months pregnant)!!!! Reportedly he also used his daughter to get as close as possible to Enrique!!!!

My Opinion: Neverending "news" like this won't stop anymore I think, whether they are true or not (remember THE SUN during Wimbledon last month...)! But I also believe already that Enrique and Anna are a couple and Anna just doesn't want to admit this. I think it is the best idea that I DON'T say whether I like this or not.

 

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August 19, 2002
Discussion: Physically worn out??? / Girouard met Anna / Ranking News
NOW I am really worried about Anna's health status. At the official Messageboard (FANS > "Will Anna ever be 100% fit...?"-Thread) there is an ongoing discussion about if Anna will EVER be 100% fit again. Reasons are obvious: The nagging "little" injuries over the past few months (Neck injury at Acapulco, thigh strain at Rome and Strasbourg, abdominal straing at Stanford, strapped thigh at San Diego & abdominal strain still at Montreal) don't seem to stop! In her last 2 Interviews at Montreal Anna admitted for the first time as far as I remember: "start to feel things more", "my body's just kind of not responding very well"...(read the transcripts)! I am worried and really in fear. The question pops up: IS ANNA ALREADY PHYSICALLY WORN OUT FROM THE INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF STRESS SHE HAS PUT HER BODY THROUGH THE LAST 16 YEARS???! Anna said that she needs to "get back to good physical shape" but my biggest fear is that she doesn't reach this goal anymore. ALWAYS these little setbacks...! Go into the Discussion to share your opinion!

Girouard met Anna: At Montreal's player's party at "LeBlanc"-Restaurant (Anna was also seen there on August 11, 2002) this gay (no insult, the truth) reporter met Anna and had this to say about her: "I've met many female celebrities in my career, but the only other star who managed to have such an impact on me was Brigittet Bardot, 30 years ago." He also said that she made 2 calls with her cell phone during that evening where she alternated between English and Spanish... (well, you can think what you want know but I think that she was calling him)!

Ranking News: Anna moves up in the Singles Ranking to 37th place (872 points) - her best ranking since almost an entire year!!! In Doubles she remains the 9th ranked player in the world with 2004 points. Slight upward-tendency in the "Race to the Championships"-Singles-Ranking: 26th with 821 points and ranked 10th in Doubles (-1 position) with 1631 points.

 

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August 17, 2002
Wildcard-problem at Kremlin Cup??? / sportfiles.com-Pics / Special Download
There might pop up a Wildcard-problem for Anna (but I think in general that the whole story is way too exaggerated)! This is what Kremlin Cup chairman and president of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev told Reuters: "Right now, even a top attraction like Anna Kournikova is not in the main draw, so she will either have to play qualifiers or we have to give her a wildcard." BUT: Tournament officials consider to give their wildcards to Elena Bovina, Dinara Safina or Svetlana Kuznetsova!!! Tarpishchev: "We're banking that the WTA will give one of their wildcards to Kournikova. Otherwise, we're going to have a problem."
Oh yes - Anna to play Qualifying!?!?!?!? I think that she woul do it but I really really doubt that such a situation will come true. Anna has still time enough to improve her ranking and if this isn't enough for direct Main draw-entry then she will get a wildcard - either from the Kremlin Cup-officials or from the WTA!

sportfiles.com-Pics: View terrific pictures from Anna from various tournaments (Indian Wells 2002, Wimbledon 2000 and many more). You can even oder these pictures directly at the sportfiles.com-website!

Special Download: "Anna's comeback" at Stanford and San Diego the last 2 weeks. Download a unique Flash animation - it features a song as well! available right now!

1,3 MB

 

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August 16, 2002
Anna & Martina reunited at the US Open??? / US Open-preparations
Barbara Schett said in her recent post match press conference at Montreal that Anna is going to play Doubles at the US Open with MARTINA HINGIS again :-))))! You can watch the Schett-Interview as well (move forward to 4min50sec)!!!
Well, this is great news, really! Anna&Martina are my all-time favourite team and they really play awesome Doubles together. This year they already won their 2nd Grand Slam Title back in January at Melbourne, Australian Open!!! So in my opinion this would be great, great, great!

US Open-preparations: Anna said in her post match press conference on Wednesday that she will "get back to good physical shape" and she is already back home in Florida (remember the news of the tears during a sunday training session - "something happend back home" she said)!!! She will practise for sure and pay attention to her body. Recent comments from her start to worry me a bit: "My body's just kind of not responding very well...I start feeling things more" - I really really hope that Anna's body isn't burnt out!

 

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August 15, 2002
Anna's 2nd Round-Interview / vs Anna / "tattoo"-news
Anna realized that THIS match vs Ruano-Pascual wasn't one of her best matches. A few quotes: "wasn't in the match totally for some reasons" (the problems back home which made her cry during practise on sunday???), "I was moving horribly today" (well yes Anna, not your best performance). She also said sth. what really scares me: "my body's just kind of not responding very well"!!!!!!!!! Anna already said in her 1st Round-Interview that she "starts feeling things more"... - is Anna's body not able to take the pressure of professional tennis anymore?!?!?! Or really just signs of fatigue after the many matches in Stanford and San Diego??? But: She had 1 week to rest after San Diego!!!! Full 2nd Round Interview-transcript

vs Anna: I read the posts in the messageboard and "ak_dectator" said that she is "not a fighter anymore"!!!! In the 2nd set it was "total destruction" according to him! After her loss vs Ruano-Pascual she immediately left the court without signing autographs...the crowd BOUED her out, even outside the stadium!!! OH NO, what is going on?!?!? Guys, you cannot expect that Anna is HAPPY with such a performance!!!!

"tattoo"-news: For all of you who believed the TV-commentators from Eurosport and thought that Anna has this patch on her belly to hide a TATTOO: Anna pulled of this adhesive patch (she wore that because of an abdominal strain) during a news press conference in Montreal and BARE SKIN was everything which was covered!!! :-))) Anna: "I was having fun with that. People said it was a tattoo." Funny what people think!

 

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August 14, 2002
Anna&Babsi LOST in Doubles 1st Round :-(((((( / more to come
OH NO! Anna and Babsi Schett LOST in the 1st Round in the Doubles competition 6:1,4:6,4:6! This is really really disappointing and I really think that Anna enters New Haven next week as final preparation for the US Open! Anna and Barbara were already up 3:0 in the 2nd set and also lead 4:2 in the 3rd set but in the end they LOST! 2 defeats on 1 day - what a frustrating setback for Anna :-((((((((((((

more to come: Reports, Articles, Vidcaps, Pics and more from the Rogers AT&T Cup will come during the next few days.

 

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August 14, 2002 (II)
Anna 5:7,1:6 :-((((( Heat-battle, heavy rain, not  good / options for Anna
Incredible high temperatures in the beginning of the match: 45°C, 117°F!!! The match started with a break for Ruano Pascual and soon she lead by 2-0! Anna made the rebreak - 2:2! From the beginning on you could see that Ruano Pascual played in the same league as Anna, she nearly brought everything back and was able to put Anna under huge pressure. But Anna also played well although she committed some unforced errors. Anna took the lead 3:2 but couldn't manage to break Ruano P. - 3:3 and the match leveled again! Then a close game but Anna won it - 4:3! Suddenly Anna left the court - bathroom-break or just a little time-out due to the incredible heat???! She came back and it turned out to be Ruano Pascual's advantage - she broke Anna's serve to take the lead - 5:4! In the following break I really saw that Anna suffers under the hot conditions but nonetheless she fought back - 5:5-Rebreak! The hard battle with precise baseline-fights continued but Anna couldn't hold her serve - 5:6-Rebreak! Then Ruano Pascual was able to easily hold her serve and so Anna lost the 1st set 5:7!!!
I knew that under these circumstances (HEAT!!!) it would be almost impossible for Anna to win in 3 sets (also having in mind the tough schedule with Doubles...)! In the 1st set Anna committed 24 unforced errors, Ruano P. just 12 :-((((
The 2nd set: Anna started off better by tak ing the lead 1:0! She tried to change her game plan and started to approach the net which she didn't attempt in the 1st set at all! But these net approaches weren't successful!! Ruano P. broke Anna's serve and took the lead - 1:2! Anna was desperately searching for a way to outplay Ruano Pascual but Virginia kept her high level of play and continued to bring everything back! The games went to Virginia - 1:3,1:4-Break! After this break I really saw in Anna's face an expression like "It doesn't work today, I can't beat her" but I can be wrong with this of course! She lost another game to 1:5 and simply played "All or nothing": Great winners vs faults! SUDDENLY from one second to the other HEAVY RAIN made further game play impossible, Anna stood in this incredible shower from the sky and didn't run into the catacombs. I think she was simply deeply frustrated and the cold water also pleased her heat-grilled body! 5:7,1:5 and RAIN DELAY - not much time went by and Anna wasn't able to come back - 5:7,1:6-defeat :-(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

options for Anna: Anna lost today vs Ruano Pascual - will she now enter New Haven next week to get additional match practise prior to the US Open (start August 26th)??? It is possible and we just have to wait!

 

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August 14, 2002
Anna in Singles & Doubles today - CORRECTED TV SCHEDULE / Serena out... / Montreal-Videos
Tough schedule for Anna today - she has to play Singles 2nd Round vs Virginia Ruano-Pascual today as well as Doubles 1st Round with Barbara Schett later today. Important parts of wednesday schedule:

Center Court - start: 1:00 pm local (19:00 CET)

Clijsters vs Pratt
Kournikova vs Ruano-Pascual

This match will be LIVE ON EUROSPORT approx. 20:15-21:00 CET (SORRY, SORRY, SORRY for the stating that match start will be 19:00 CET)!!!!! Hopefully Anna can win this match but be careful Anna - V.-Pascual beat Kremer in the 1st Round 6:1,6:0!!!!!

Court 1 - start: 11:00 am (17:00 CET)

Dementieva vs Coetzer
Schett vs Rubin
Hantuchova vs Schnyder
Raymond/Stubbs vs Clijsters/Dokic
Fujiwara/Sugiyama vs Kournikova/Schett

So I assume that Anna's 1st Doubles match will start at approx. 6:00-7:00 pm local (0:00-1:00 am tomorrow CET). Unfortunately Eurosport most likely won't show anything from this match!

Serena out...: "Good" for Anna when you look at the Draw: Serena was forced to pull out of the Rogers AT&T Cup due to "acute left knee tendinitis"!! This means that Zuluaga will now face a "Lucky Loser" in Round 2 and in the 3rd Round Anna cannot meet Serena anymore in her 3rd Round-match tomorrow - if she wins today!

Montreal-Videos: Great service from wtsn.ca - Videos from Rogers AT&T Cup: Hingis, ANNA of course as well as many others!

 

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August 13, 2002 (II)
1st Rd-Interview-Cuts / TEARS!!! / post-match contest / VIDEO / Solomon about Anna / Enrique bought villa?
Some interesting quotes: "I definitely felt very good...In general, my game is coming back and getting together, finally." I am worried about this quote: "I'm starting to feel things a little more." - Anna's body breaking down in a few years??? :-((( Reports: Canoe.ca | Nationalpost.com | nj.com | theglobeandmail.com | tennis-ontheline.com | canada.com | tenniscanada.com

TEARS!!!: During a practise session on sunday Anna burst into tears!!!! WHY???: "It was just something happened back home. Not something I would like to talk about."
Well, hopefully nothing happened to her family!!!!!

post-match contest: Anna participated in a post-match contest with three children under the age of 15. After each of the kids - two boys and one girl - missed the targets in the serve competition, Kournikova helped them out by nailing one for each of them. The kids walked away with prizes and a couple of kisses on the cheek from Kournikova, who heard a few whistles from male fans after the match.

VIDEO: Watch a video from Anna after her victory against Obata here

Solomon about Anna: Harold is very happy with the way the work with Anna is progressing. Great quotes: "I know she'll win tournaments. I think she can definitely be a top-10 player again." About the fact that Anna's parents don't travel with her so much anymore: "They haven't been travelling with us since Rome...and that's Anna's choice. I definitely didn't say anything like 'It's me or your parents.'" more

Enrique bought villa?: According to several TV reports, THE SUN (of course... :-(((((((((( and videotext-pages this happened (rough translation): "Spain's pop star Enrique Iglesias bought a love nest-villa for himself and his "inspiration" (german word: "muse") in L.A.: 5 sleeping rooms, swimming pool, recording studio and also space for a tenniscourt..." (source: VIVA-Videotext 119) This "lovenest" is said to be worth $7.5 million!!!

Personally I doubt EVERYTHING until I see and hear Anna's confirmation that both are a couple. SO MUCH has been "reportedly" happened between Anna and Enrique during the last months so I really think that at least it MIGHT be true! Both are SOOO popular all over the world that sooner or later we will get to know if they are a couple or not!

 

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August 13, 2002
Obata defeated - 6:3,6:1 / next match(es) / Eurosport seen / Pictures
Anna totally dominated in her 1st Round match vs Saori Obata - 6:3,6:1 the convincing result! The match took less than an hour and Saori wasn't able to keep up with Anna's pressure and pace! GREAT!

next match(es): Anna doesn't play neither Doubles nor Singles today!! This means that she would have to play one Singles- and Doubles-match each day from wednesday!!!! This will be very very tough, especially in the hot conditions in Montreal!
Anna's 2nd Round Singles-opponent is Virginia Ruano-Pascual. Both played once against each other back in Rome this year (May 16), 3rd Round! Anna LOST 3:6,2:6 but remember: She suffered a thigh injury in the 2nd set!
But now Anna is in a much better shape than back in Rome. I think she will beat Ruano-Pascual although Virginia easily beat Anne Kremer in her 1st Round match!

Eurosport seen: Although I have to work I was able to see the 2nd set against Obata on Eurosport this morning! Anna really dominated with precise groundstrokes, drop shots and good returns. You could really see that Obata wasn't able to produce such powerful groundstrokes as A nna! Great to see. Anna was chewing bubble gum like in Stanford and San Diego and she did wear the same outfit as well.
But the commentator...: First he said that she lost in Bol in the 1st Round (she lost in the 2ND Round vs Pisnik, won in the 1st Round vs Vakulenko!!!) and after Anna's match point he saw 2 tattoos (on her back and on her stomach) but these were the same tapes she wore in San Diego already. My recommendation: Turn off the volume on Eurosport during Anna-matches!!!

Pictures: See actual pictures from the Rogers AT&T Cup in Montreal: official Messageboard
> Photos Exchange
> Members Photos
> "Rogers Cup"-Thread

 

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August 12, 2002
Anna vs Saori Obata in 1st Round, Eurosport-schedule / Ranking News
Anna plays Saori Obata in her opening round match at Montreal today. This girl won't be an easy opponent for Anna because she has beaten Mikaelian and Jidkova in the Qualifying! Schedule for today:

Monday, August, 12th 2002 on CENTER COURT:

not before 6:30 pm (0:30 am tuesday CET)
Kournikova vs Obata

UNFORTUNATELY NO LIVE coverage from Eurosport BUT:

Tuesday, 13.08.02
10:30-12:00 CET
ANNA KOURNIKOVA vs SAORI OBATA
on Eurosport

Eurosport displayed this TV schedule straight after Nagyova's 3-hour-win against Mary Pierce!

Ranking News: Anna's ranking situation has slightly went down again because she didn't play last week. But nothing really to worry about if she plays as well as in Stanford and San Diego this week in Montreal. She is now ranked 40th in Singles with unchanged points (lost 2 positions) and 9th in Doubles, also with no point-change (-1 position)! In the "Race to the Championships"-Rankings Anna also lost 1 position in Singles and Doubles - 28th in Singles (794 points), 9th in Doubles (1630 points)!

 

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August 11, 2002
Doubles in Montreal with Babsi Schett
Anna and Barbara Schett team up for Doubles again - Montreal will be the first tournament for both as a team since the Australian Open 2001 (both reached the Quarterfinal, lost there vs Williams-sisters)! Both already won a tournament together - Sydney 2001!!!! Montreal-Doubles Draw! I think that Anna and Barbara will play very well together and their 1st round-opponents Fujiwara/Sugiyama. Anna never played Doubles against this team!

 

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August 9, 2002 (II)
Montreal-draw is out / San Diego02-Picture-archive / positive article / annaforever-Upload-status
The Main Draw for the AT&T Rogers Cup is out - Anna faces a Qualifier in the 1st Round and would face Anne Kremer in the 2nd Round. Already in the 3rd Round Anna would meet most likely top seeded Serena Williams :-(((

San Diego02-Picture-archive: You want to see a huge amount of pictures from Anna at last week's Acura Classic in good quality? Visit anna-fans.com (best quality) or M.Perez' Site

positive article: Hey, ESPN honors Anna's recent efforts in Stanford and San Diego instead of bashing her?!?!?! Incredible. More

annaforever-Upload-status: I have almost completed the Uploading procedures but this still needs to be fixed / updated!
- MESSAGEBOARD    (reinstalled upcoming weekend)

 

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August 9, 2002
HISTORY-Section:
Annaforever.de has its own HISTORY-Section right now - read and see how everything went on throughout the years

new rumours expanded: REPORTEDLY Anna and Enrique were spotted last weekend. The Rumours: On Saturday both were "canoodling" in rumjungle at Mandala Bay and on Sunday they were dancing on table at Light, Bellagio hotel's hot spot. dailyrecord.co.uk-article which also features quotes from an "onlooker" (what a sucking expression)

So far what REPORTEDLY has happened! Well, I have no clue where Mandala Bay is and I also don't know were Bellagio hotel is but Anna did play vs Dokic last Saturday at San Diego so IF there is some truth in it then they were probably going out in San Diego.
Anna is 21 years old - she can do whatever she wants with who ever she wants. If it is Enrique - well, I don't like him but it would be HER choice. But if both are a couple - we will get an official statement one day I think!

 

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August 8, 2002
India-WTA-event with Anna? / San Diego-MPEG / Trip to Glory... / Montreal-draw
According to this article published on timesofindia.com India is planning to establish a WTA Tier IV-event (140000$ prize money) in Bangalore. The event would start at February 3, 2003 and could also feature ANNA in its first draw! Globesport's Vice President (marketing), Vinay Shenoy, said: "A couple of players in the top ten have been approached and are seriously considering the option of playing in India. Mahesh is in touch with Anna Kournikova". (quite similar report on annak.com)
Mahesh Bhupathi knows Anna quite well - i.e. he played an exhibition against at Wimbledon 2000 with her, Henri Leconte and Jana Novotna. At this year's Wimbledon-event he also faced her in the Mixed Quarterfinal where Anna lost with Jonas Bjorkman against Mahesh & Elena Likhovtseva.

In my opinion this might be an option for Anna to play an event in India after the Tier I in Tokyo instead of playing Paris and Antwerp like this year. After this Tier IV in India/Bangalore she might take a week off and fly to Acapulco afterwards. Of course there are many other possibilities for Anna in 2003 but this is one of them!

San Diego-MPEG: Who else than Stefan Frauenknecht makes these beautiful MPEGS??? - Download a Mpeg of Anna's straight set win against Jennifer Hopkins at the Acura Classic from last week.

Trip to Glory: Take a look back to Anna's and Martina's Run at this year's Australian Open - 6 wins in a row secured the 2nd Grand Slam Doubles Trophy for the "Spice Girls"! What a memorable moment!

Montreal-draw: The Main Draw will be released tomorrow afternoon - for me as a German this means Friday evening! I will let you know.

 

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August 7, 2002
San Diego-Crap-report
What a big amount of crap - Rozel A. Lee has written a report called "Kournikova glamorized despite mediocrity" where he talks about the way the media portrays Anna, the LOSER (in his eyes)! Obviously he hasn't seen many tennis matches and he must have one of the worst opinions about Anna at all. Well Rozel - why don't you just TRY to be a little bit more fair and objective?!?!?!!!!

Anna may not be the best tennis player in the word - ok! But she is definitely working hard and deserves respect for that! And she IS NOT just a good Doubles player - sooner or later she will show the world how good she can play Tennis!

 

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August 5, 2002
Ranking News
Good news and an improvement by 16 positions within the next 2 weeks!!!! Anna moves up in the Singles Rankings 9 places and is now ranked 38th in the world with 846 points! In Doubles Anna loses 1 position because she reached last year's Doubles Final in San Diego together with Martina Hingis! Anna is now ranked 8th in Doubles (2004 points)! In the "Race to the Championships"- Rankings Anna moves up 7 spots - 27th in Singles with 794 points and 8th in Doubles with 1630 points!

 

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August 4, 2002
After Anna's SF-defeat / 1 week rest / Pics / annaforever.de-EMAIL-WINNERS
The day after Anna was beaten by sixth-seeded Jelena Dokic in the semis of the Acura Classic in San Diego. Overall Anna is happy with the progress she's made and for sures she CAN be happy and proud: "I'm really happy with my results in this tournament in general," Kournikova said. "This tournament has been great, everything has come together, and I'm winning more and more matches." But the match against Dokic was a very hard one: "Today the pace was much faster," Kournikova said. "I got tired when I finished the first set." I saw the match LIVE on Eurosport and it is right - especially in the 3rd set Anna was tired - 5 matches in 5 days with 2 hard 3-set-victories before the semis, 2h20min the day before against Smashnova - Anna is no robot, just a human being who gets tired after so much and intense play: "I was telling myself to get my feet moving...I knew what I had to do, I just couldn't get my body to always do it." Anna remains focused and of course she wants to improve: "The good thing is there is something to work on. I can always improve." more Interview-cuts | Reports

1 week rest: Anna now has a week off before she competes in the Rogers AT&T Cup in Montreal (August 12-17). I think this is a good decision because it was obvious that Anna was tired in her match vs Jelena Dokic. She played very well this week in San Diego but 5 matches with 3 tough 3-set-wins are a lot for her, especially because she didn't play so many matches in 1 tournaments for many months! Load your batteries up again, Anna and continue to play that way you did in Stanford and San Diego!

Pics: Latest pictures at the official messageboard > Photos Exchange > Members Photos > "Acura Classic 2002"-Thread

annaforever.de-EMAIL-WINNERS: The winners have been contacted and the email-addresses have been installed. To all of you: Take part in the next annaforever.de-contest coming up in the near future!

 

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August 3, 2002 (II)
Dokic ends Anna's great run / San Diego-summary / Pics
What a memorable match! From the beginning on the 1st set wasn't dominated by one player, both played on an equally high level! Great! Anna broke Jelena's serve in the 5th game to lead 3-2 but Anna was rebreaked immediately. The same happened at 5-5! Anna took the lead again 6-5 but was rebreaked in the next game. In the Tiebreak it was Jelena who made the unforced error at 6-7 and so Anna won the 1st set 7-6! The 2nd set started anything but good for Anna - 0:2 after a few minutes. But Anna came back in a big way and took the lead again to 3-2! Jelena started to make more mistakes and Anna's returns were amazing as well as her whole will to reach every ball. Jelena came back and tied out the match again 4-4! Anna took the lead again and had 2 match points at 5-4 but unfortunately she couldn't close out the match! It went the other way with Dokic reaching the Tiebreak and she won this one! In the 3rd set it was a little bit obvious that Anna has run out of condition - Jelena forced her to run alot during the first 2 sets. It was very sad to watch that Anna couldn't win one single game in the deciding set. After 2 hours Jelena won the match (fault by Anna) 6:7,7:6,6:0!

San Diego-summary: This tournament in Carlsbad was a very very important tournament - ANNA IS BACK AMONG THE TOP PLAYERS!!!!! She won 4 matches in a row for the first time since the Australian Open 2001!!!! And among these 4 victories also were 2 matches where Anna had to come back from being 1 set down! And she did it twice in convincing fashion! The match vs Dokic gave Anna a lot of confindence for sure (Top10 player), especially the fact that she had 2 match points at 5:4 in the 2nd set. Physically Anna seemed at least to be not 100% injury-free! She played all 5 matches with a strapped left thigh and a taped stomach due to a abdominal strain she suffered a week ago in Stanford. But overall these little injuries didn't seem to affect Anna's game!