Don’t Miss These 5 Gorgeous Photos of Former Tennis Pro Anna Kournikova in Puerto Rico
Former professional athlete Anna Kournikova made her SI Swimsuit debut in Puerto Rico when she was photographed by Tiziano Magni for the 2004 issue. The 42-year-old began playing tennis at the age of 14 and never looked back, but she officially retired one year before her magazine feature.
The Moscow, Russia-born model competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and is a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion.
“It’s really strange, it feels like it happened to me but it didn’t happen to me because it was such a long time ago. I played in every single continent by the time I was 16,” she said in 2019 about how her tennis career changed her life. “It was an interesting way to grow up. When I stopped, most people had just come out of college and I was stopping the only thing I knew.”
The mom of three shares three children, Lucy, Nicholas and Mary, with her partner, Spanish singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias. The power couple met in 2001 while on set on set of a music video and now live with their family in Miami. Kournikova, who has dabbled in TV acting gigs, uses her platform to share sweet snippets of her family life.
The “Bailando” singer said he would love for one of his daughters to learn tennis and compete, just like their athlete mother.
“I love golf, I love tennis, and I would not mind seeing one of my little girls play tennis. I don’t want to become one of these obsessive fathers, but I told Anna, I said, ‘You can be the best coach in the world,’” he explained, and added that they play each other often. “I think I can beat her, but that’s what I say all the time. But she lets me win.”
Below are five of our favorite photos from her SI Swimsuit feature.