"Girls look at him, guys look at me"- When Anna Kournikova spoke about her run-ins with paparazzi when with Enrique Iglesias
Anna Kournikova, one of the most popular names in tennis during her peak years, had said in a previous interview that she had bad experiences with the paparazzi when out with her partner Enrique Iglesias.
The former doubles World No. 1 was a high-profile player during her time and her popularity elevated even further after her relationship with singer Iglesias.
Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim interviewed Kournikova in 2008, where she spoke about a number of things, including her run-ins with the paparazzi. Kournikova was saddened by those experiences, especially when their privacy was violated. She stated that the girls stared at the Spaniard while the boys looked at her, instead of just getting on with their jobs and getting the pictures they wanted.
"Girls look at him. Guys look at me. It goes with the job, but it gets annoying when you feel violated. Just take the picture and be done," the Russian said.
In a perfect world, I would have won a tournament: Anna Kournikova
Despite her popularity and reaching the Top-10 of the WTA singles rankings, Anna Kournikova was unable to win a singles tournament throughout her career. She stated that she would have won a competition in a perfect world but was unable to "string the big matches" together.
However, the former doubles World No. 1 noted that apart from not being a little stronger physically, she doesn't regret anything.
"In a perfect world, would I have won a tournament? Yes. But I wasn't able to string those matches together. Sometimes I got unlucky, and sometimes I just lost." Regrets? "Not a thing. Except to be a little stronger physically. Come on, regrets? I grew up a little girl in the Soviet Union playing at a small sports club," Anna Kournikova said.
"I put pressure on myself, especially as I got older. At 16, 17 you have no fear. You don't think or analyze. You just play on automatic. You can get smarter as you get older, but in sports you can be too smart, you know?" she added.
Anna Kournikova won 16 doubles titles throughout her career, including two women's doubles titles at the Australian Open in 1999 and 2002. She also reached three major finals at the French Open (women's doubles), Wimbledon (mixed doubles), and US Open (mixed doubles).
Her best singles performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1997 when she was only 16 years old. In addition to that, she reached the final four of the WTA Tour Championships in 2000.