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Anna rules Despite record, Kournikova stays in the spotlight
Posted: Monday June 26, 2000 03:11 PM
Has anyone seen Anna Kournikova? You have? Strange that, because the poor dear usually struggles for publicity. It must be Wimbledon or something. What else can explain the sudden surge in interest in a player who hasn't won a professional singles tournament in 67 attempts? OK, I jest. I'm well and truly aware of the things that make Anna "Anna" -- and that make her the focus of worldwide interest. But I'm nonetheless intrigued how she's managed to become quite so huge. I can't imagine a more famous sportswoman in the world right now. In fact, lose the word "sports." She's one of the most famous women on the planet -- period. Kournikova is a 19-year-old phenomenon. Advertisers, newspaper editors and tournament organizers consider her mannah from heaven. Adolescent boys and not so adolescent men are also quite fond of her. So what if she hasn't won a singles championship? Anna rules. She's a classic example of style over substance. Not that there's too much wrong with that, according to two of her youthful rivals, Venus and Serena Williams. They say, "It's unfortunate, but that's the way of the world." It's capitalism at work, explained Venus, who insisted it's wrong to blame Kournikova for all the attention she gains despite her lack of success on the court. "When you are attractive, people gather to you," said Venus. It has supposedly irked others. To believe the tabloids over here in Britain is to believe that most women on tour despise Kournikova. In her recent autobiography, French player Nathalie Tauziat hit out at Kournikova gaining more publicity than players of greater tennis ability, simply because "she's prettier".
Tauziat might just be more clever than we think. Using Kournikova's name in this way most probably sold more copies of the book. Anna has a knack for helping move products from the shelves. Glamour sells. Tauziat knows that as much as the next person. The latest product Kournikova's offering up her support for is a sports bra. Billboards all around London are causing no small amount of whiplash as Anna looks down, sporting her new garment, alongside the words: "Only the balls should bounce." It's perfect timing for the Berlei company heading into Wimbledon, which Kournikova ranks alongside the French Open as her favorite tournament. The newspapers here are full of her image, too. The tabloid The Sun is again running its "Kourni-corner." Every day that she's in the tournament, they'll print a picture of her. 
As she practiced at Wimbledon, the ground staff was curiously neglecting their duties. Actually, maybe I should give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they were just taking a much-needed break and simply happened to sit down by chance at the side of her court. Where Kournikova goes, the spotlight follows. She claims it doesn't bother her. In fact, I think she quite likes it. She also claims she's deadly serious about her tennis. I have no reason to doubt that either. But Kournikova should be starkly aware that tennis has merely been the vehicle to carry her to untold fame and riches. She would like to win titles, but she doesn't need to. She might not always make the most of her tennis talent, but she certainly maximizes her other attributes. A million or more hits a day on her 18,000 pages on the World Wide Web and around $11 million in endorsement deals last year, ranking her second only to Andre Agassi in the whole of her sport, amply illustrates the point. Kournikova's on top of her game off the courts -- and for much of the world at large, that's apparently all that matters.
Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International. Jones is part of the World Sport crew that is in England covering Wimbledon.
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