Anya on the cover JEZEBEL Magazine (2011)

Verena_2008 · 12-20-2011, 09:28 AM

Hi everyone!

Our Anya on the cover JEZEBEL Magazine (2011).

xuan1210 · 12-20-2011, 04:10 PM

The Biggest Winner

by Elina Fuhrman | Jezebel magazine | December 5, 2011
It’s exactly noon, and my BlackBerry rings with an unfamiliar number on the screen. “Hi, it’s Anna,” goes a chirpy but distant, disembodied voice. Anna Kournikova is calling from Miami, but our connection dips in and out as if she were calling from her native Moscow. The first thing we do when she calls back is swap stories about migrating across the globe to America (Kournikova came to Miami on Valentine’s Day in 1992 and I, likewise, arrived in New York during Christmas in 1989—two holidays neither of us knew a thing about at the time). After a few exchanges in Russian, Kournikova admits that living in the U.S. has made long conversations in her native tongue a bit harder. “Instead of Spanglish, we have RusEnglish,” she says with a laugh.

When we switch to English, Kournikova’s tone becomes a bit more serious. She is speaking rapid-fire, in a throaty but barely noticeable Russian accent. “I’m out of breath when I’m talking, because I’m not used to talking so much,” she says with a gasp. “I get excited when I talk about something I love.”

“Anya,” as she is known to her family and friends, is just back from L.A. After almost six months filming the 12th season of NBC’s hit reality series, The Biggest Loser, Kournikova has just hung up the gig. “Absolutely nothing went wrong, I just felt that TV wasn’t a great fit for me. I tried it and had a great experience, and I will continue to focus on health and fitness as I have always done my whole life,” she explains.

With working up to nine hours a day in the gym, helping contestants lose pounds and change their lives, The Biggest Loser was a winning experience for Kournikova. “Being a professional athlete my entire life, I know how to work with [my] body, take care of [my] body, and how to exercise and have proper nutrition. That’s what I’ve been doing since I was 5 years old,” she says. “I will miss working with The Biggest Loser team and had a really great experience, but I feel good about my decision.”

Among athletes’ American success stories, Anna Kournikova’s rise to stardom is typically described as quick and easy—maybe too much so. According to the standard version, Kournikova, the daughter of a professional wrestler and a runner, broke out as a child tennis prodigy in her native Russia in the early 1990s before she even reached double digits in age. She came to Miami to train at the renowned Bollettieri Tennis Academy and, within a few years, she was winning junior championships. By the age of 14, she went pro.

Though she scored victories over Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis and Steffi Graf, captured the Australian Open doubles title with Hingis in 1999 and went on to win numerous doubles championships, it was her exotic allure—her mane of long blonde hair atop her svelte athletic body—that scored her a spot as tennis’ top-seed golden girl. Her undeniable sex appeal had observers calling her the “Lolita of tennis,” and before long, the young star became a celebrity with a string of endorsement deals, from watches to sports bras, with every campaign seeming to build upon her looks.

But as her star rose, critics would ruefully try to remind tennis fans that Kournikova had not won a single singles tournament, calling her “the most successful loser in the history of sports” (Kournikova ranks alongside Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan in endorsement earnings). But it didn’t seem to matter; Kournikova had the “it” factor. Men were showing up in droves at women’s tennis matches for the first time ever. Many observers say Kournikova had single-handedly breathed new life into a game steeped in too much tradition. Others called her a brat.

“I wasn’t a brat!” Kournikova exclaims. “When you are 16, 17 and very successful, I think you just don’t know any better. You are a kid and you are… in a candy store, you know?” She insists all that ever mattered to her was her game. She worked hard and didn’t understand why the media was hounding her. “I was on the cover of every magazine and newspaper, and it’s a lot for a kid,” recalls Kournikova. “It’s a lot of pressure—a lot of growing up in the public spotlight, and I’m very lucky that I had a great support system, and I was able to stay grounded with the help of my friends and family.” She sighs a long, audible sigh, as Russians often do, and sums it up: “It’s been quite a ride.”

When I bring up the fact that her stint as a trainer on The Biggest Loser was already making for unkind headlines, Kournikova interrupts me before I can cite a source.

“All kinds of shit!” she laughs. Then sweetly shifts down a gear. “I have neither the time nor the energy to change [that]. I just want to live my life,” she maintains. “The most important people in my life know the way I am. You can’t be perfect for everyone. I’m all for criticism, but it’s got to be constructive criticism.”

Throughout her life, Kournikova says she’s operated under one vow: Always be true to yourself. Now 30, and as beautiful as ever, she insists she is a changed woman. “You just evolve and you grow,” she says. Yet I see she retains a certain contrarian streak, perhaps a leftover from a childhood filled with reporters closely following her. “I’ve never really been open because I was an athlete and I didn’t really have to share the real me,” she says. “I just had to go on the court, play a match, and win or lose. Then, I’d move on and worry about my next match or my next tournament. I didn’t have to worry if people liked me or not,” she remembers airily.

After nearly 20 years in the U.S., Kournikova finally became an American citizen in 2009. “I really wanted to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit the troops with the USO, and in order to go there I had to get an American passport,” she says. “I went with the chiefs of staff in Christmas of 2009, with a couple of singers [and] a comedian, to support and entertain the troops. We were literally down in Kandahar and all those bases… a couple of bases a day. It was an incredible experience,” she recalls. “I was watching 60 Minutes the other day. The episode was about soldiers who’d come back, and how hard it is for them to get to normal life. I was watching them and I started crying.” She counts the trip as her proudest achievement to date and says it has helped her put her life in perspective, “The problems I have are nothing compared to what people go through there; it really is incredible.”

With all the fresh attention on her from her single season on The Biggest Loser, Kournikova relishes her new identity as a health guru. “I’m passionate about being an expert and spreading the healthy lifestyle for people, especially for kids and women, and that’s what drives me now,” she enthuses. “I just want to share how sport has helped me. It doesn’t mean you have to be a professional athlete, it’s just a way of bettering your life.

“I was talking to this one guy and he said, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m able to do all these things with my kids now that I wasn’t able to do before!’” Kournikova tells of one of the contestants. “We had a guy who had diabetes before he came on the show. Not anymore,” she says proudly.

When Kournikova isn’t traveling, she claims to be a homebody with a domestic life that’s pretty tame. I get a glimpse of her priorities when I ask her where she likes to go out. “My favorite place in Miami is my home and the beach, and the water,” she says. “I don’t go to trendy places and clubs. I travel so much for work so when I’m home, I just like being home and chill with my circle.” That “circle” includes longtime boyfriend, singer Enrique Iglesias.

I ask how long they’ve been together, and if any plans for marriage are in the future. “A long time! It’s been almost 10 years, so I guess it works. I don’t think a piece of paper would change that. We are happy,” she says contentedly, her voice suddenly softer. “I believe in marriage and commitment but I’m happy the way I am and I think it’s very individual. Growing up in the Soviet Union, we didn’t really plan a church wedding.”

How about kids? “Absolutely!” Kournikova exclaims, her voice animated again. “I definitely want to have kids. Not right now, probably because I feel like I’m just getting to know myself—really growing up—but maybe in a few years.”

The most important thing in her relationship with Iglesias, Kournikova notes, is “getting along” and communicating. “If you are able to communicate and it works for both of you, whatever floats your boat… I think a person should be able to do what they want to do. Who is someone to tell the other person what to do with their life?” she says finally, as though boiling her life’s journey into a single sentence. It’s hard not to think she may be The Biggest Loser’s greatest loss.

moonlight777 · 12-20-2011, 05:56 PM

Here's a site where u can see the whole magazine with more shots of anna....oh god...these pics in this magazine are awesome.

http://media.modernluxury.com/digital.php?e=JEZE

TheNomik · 12-21-2011, 08:34 AM

Thank you so so much for sharing!!!!

Crazyemerald · 12-21-2011, 11:01 AM

First of all, a big thank you to Verena, Xuan and Moonlight - these pics are stunning and a pretty good article too. I really like their digital flip through edition of the magazine but it makes it difficult to download the pics and boy I want them in my collection!!!

I managed to get two pics - a small one from the article and a stunning one from the home page of the magazine - does anyone know how to download the other pics

TeresaRf · 12-21-2011, 04:38 PM

a bit larger)

Grunn · 12-21-2011, 08:48 PM

Its a very nice article with great pictures!!

Verena_2008 · 12-21-2011, 10:24 PM

This magazine is only sold in America? Someone could buy it for me? Write in a personal, please

Crazyemerald · 12-22-2011, 01:45 AM

Excellent, thanks Teresa

TheNomik · 12-22-2011, 04:07 AM

I would like to have this magazine too... please write me an e-mail if you can send me the magazine from US to Czech republic... my e-mail: mycorazon@seznam.cz

Thank you so much!!!

12-20-2011, 05:56 PM	#3
moonlight777 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 21 Thanks: 71 Thanked 25 Times in 8 Posts	Anya on the cover JEZEBEL Magazine (2011) Here's a site where u can see the whole magazine with more shots of anna....oh god...these pics in this magazine are awesome. http://media.modernluxury.com/digital.php?e=JEZE Last edited by moonlight777; 12-20-2011 at 05:58 PM.

12-21-2011, 10:24 PM	#8
Verena_2008 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Omsk, Russia Posts: 692 Thanks: 77 Thanked 49 Times in 26 Posts	This magazine is only sold in America? Someone could buy it for me? Write in a personal, please __________________ My Fan Club About Anna ♥! Please, join: https://www.facebook.com/KourniFans https://twitter.com/FanClub_Kourni

12-20-2011, 04:10 PM	#2
xuan1210 Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 944 Thanks: 0 Thanked 52 Times in 23 Posts	The Biggest Winner by Elina Fuhrman \| Jezebel magazine \| December 5, 2011 It’s exactly noon, and my BlackBerry rings with an unfamiliar number on the screen. “Hi, it’s Anna,” goes a chirpy but distant, disembodied voice. Anna Kournikova is calling from Miami, but our connection dips in and out as if she were calling from her native Moscow. The first thing we do when she calls back is swap stories about migrating across the globe to America (Kournikova came to Miami on Valentine’s Day in 1992 and I, likewise, arrived in New York during Christmas in 1989—two holidays neither of us knew a thing about at the time). After a few exchanges in Russian, Kournikova admits that living in the U.S. has made long conversations in her native tongue a bit harder. “Instead of Spanglish, we have RusEnglish,” she says with a laugh. When we switch to English, Kournikova’s tone becomes a bit more serious. She is speaking rapid-fire, in a throaty but barely noticeable Russian accent. “I’m out of breath when I’m talking, because I’m not used to talking so much,” she says with a gasp. “I get excited when I talk about something I love.” “Anya,” as she is known to her family and friends, is just back from L.A. After almost six months filming the 12th season of NBC’s hit reality series, The Biggest Loser, Kournikova has just hung up the gig. “Absolutely nothing went wrong, I just felt that TV wasn’t a great fit for me. I tried it and had a great experience, and I will continue to focus on health and fitness as I have always done my whole life,” she explains. With working up to nine hours a day in the gym, helping contestants lose pounds and change their lives, The Biggest Loser was a winning experience for Kournikova. “Being a professional athlete my entire life, I know how to work with [my] body, take care of [my] body, and how to exercise and have proper nutrition. That’s what I’ve been doing since I was 5 years old,” she says. “I will miss working with The Biggest Loser team and had a really great experience, but I feel good about my decision.” Among athletes’ American success stories, Anna Kournikova’s rise to stardom is typically described as quick and easy—maybe too much so. According to the standard version, Kournikova, the daughter of a professional wrestler and a runner, broke out as a child tennis prodigy in her native Russia in the early 1990s before she even reached double digits in age. She came to Miami to train at the renowned Bollettieri Tennis Academy and, within a few years, she was winning junior championships. By the age of 14, she went pro. Though she scored victories over Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis and Steffi Graf, captured the Australian Open doubles title with Hingis in 1999 and went on to win numerous doubles championships, it was her exotic allure—her mane of long blonde hair atop her svelte athletic body—that scored her a spot as tennis’ top-seed golden girl. Her undeniable sex appeal had observers calling her the “Lolita of tennis,” and before long, the young star became a celebrity with a string of endorsement deals, from watches to sports bras, with every campaign seeming to build upon her looks. But as her star rose, critics would ruefully try to remind tennis fans that Kournikova had not won a single singles tournament, calling her “the most successful loser in the history of sports” (Kournikova ranks alongside Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan in endorsement earnings). But it didn’t seem to matter; Kournikova had the “it” factor. Men were showing up in droves at women’s tennis matches for the first time ever. Many observers say Kournikova had single-handedly breathed new life into a game steeped in too much tradition. Others called her a brat. “I wasn’t a brat!” Kournikova exclaims. “When you are 16, 17 and very successful, I think you just don’t know any better. You are a kid and you are… in a candy store, you know?” She insists all that ever mattered to her was her game. She worked hard and didn’t understand why the media was hounding her. “I was on the cover of every magazine and newspaper, and it’s a lot for a kid,” recalls Kournikova. “It’s a lot of pressure—a lot of growing up in the public spotlight, and I’m very lucky that I had a great support system, and I was able to stay grounded with the help of my friends and family.” She sighs a long, audible sigh, as Russians often do, and sums it up: “It’s been quite a ride.” When I bring up the fact that her stint as a trainer on The Biggest Loser was already making for unkind headlines, Kournikova interrupts me before I can cite a source. “All kinds of shit!” she laughs. Then sweetly shifts down a gear. “I have neither the time nor the energy to change [that]. I just want to live my life,” she maintains. “The most important people in my life know the way I am. You can’t be perfect for everyone. I’m all for criticism, but it’s got to be constructive criticism.” Throughout her life, Kournikova says she’s operated under one vow: Always be true to yourself. Now 30, and as beautiful as ever, she insists she is a changed woman. “You just evolve and you grow,” she says. Yet I see she retains a certain contrarian streak, perhaps a leftover from a childhood filled with reporters closely following her. “I’ve never really been open because I was an athlete and I didn’t really have to share the real me,” she says. “I just had to go on the court, play a match, and win or lose. Then, I’d move on and worry about my next match or my next tournament. I didn’t have to worry if people liked me or not,” she remembers airily. After nearly 20 years in the U.S., Kournikova finally became an American citizen in 2009. “I really wanted to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit the troops with the USO, and in order to go there I had to get an American passport,” she says. “I went with the chiefs of staff in Christmas of 2009, with a couple of singers [and] a comedian, to support and entertain the troops. We were literally down in Kandahar and all those bases… a couple of bases a day. It was an incredible experience,” she recalls. “I was watching 60 Minutes the other day. The episode was about soldiers who’d come back, and how hard it is for them to get to normal life. I was watching them and I started crying.” She counts the trip as her proudest achievement to date and says it has helped her put her life in perspective, “The problems I have are nothing compared to what people go through there; it really is incredible.” With all the fresh attention on her from her single season on The Biggest Loser, Kournikova relishes her new identity as a health guru. “I’m passionate about being an expert and spreading the healthy lifestyle for people, especially for kids and women, and that’s what drives me now,” she enthuses. “I just want to share how sport has helped me. It doesn’t mean you have to be a professional athlete, it’s just a way of bettering your life. “I was talking to this one guy and he said, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m able to do all these things with my kids now that I wasn’t able to do before!’” Kournikova tells of one of the contestants. “We had a guy who had diabetes before he came on the show. Not anymore,” she says proudly. When Kournikova isn’t traveling, she claims to be a homebody with a domestic life that’s pretty tame. I get a glimpse of her priorities when I ask her where she likes to go out. “My favorite place in Miami is my home and the beach, and the water,” she says. “I don’t go to trendy places and clubs. I travel so much for work so when I’m home, I just like being home and chill with my circle.” That “circle” includes longtime boyfriend, singer Enrique Iglesias. I ask how long they’ve been together, and if any plans for marriage are in the future. “A long time! It’s been almost 10 years, so I guess it works. I don’t think a piece of paper would change that. We are happy,” she says contentedly, her voice suddenly softer. “I believe in marriage and commitment but I’m happy the way I am and I think it’s very individual. Growing up in the Soviet Union, we didn’t really plan a church wedding.” How about kids? “Absolutely!” Kournikova exclaims, her voice animated again. “I definitely want to have kids. Not right now, probably because I feel like I’m just getting to know myself—really growing up—but maybe in a few years.” The most important thing in her relationship with Iglesias, Kournikova notes, is “getting along” and communicating. “If you are able to communicate and it works for both of you, whatever floats your boat… I think a person should be able to do what they want to do. Who is someone to tell the other person what to do with their life?” she says finally, as though boiling her life’s journey into a single sentence. It’s hard not to think she may be The Biggest Loser’s greatest loss.

12-21-2011, 08:34 AM	#4
TheNomik Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Czech republic Posts: 75 Thanks: 48 Thanked 37 Times in 14 Posts	Thank you so so much for sharing!!!!

12-21-2011, 08:48 PM	#7
Grunn Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 201 Thanks: 17 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Its a very nice article with great pictures!!

12-22-2011, 01:45 AM	#9
Crazyemerald Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 588 Thanks: 260 Thanked 132 Times in 71 Posts	Excellent, thanks Teresa

12-22-2011, 04:07 AM	#10
TheNomik Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Czech republic Posts: 75 Thanks: 48 Thanked 37 Times in 14 Posts	I would like to have this magazine too... please write me an e-mail if you can send me the magazine from US to Czech republic... my e-mail: mycorazon@seznam.cz Thank you so much!!!