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Kournikova to switch to LPGA Tour ! | ||||||
June 17, 2003; Source: AnyoneForTee.com World Exclusive "Not being able to hit the ball never held me back at tennis" says Russian glamour puss - Gobra agrees sponsorship dealRUSSIA. Anna Kournikova, the first woman tennis player to make a fortune out of being really bad at the game, is switching to golf, AnyoneForTee can exclusively reveal. Kournikova is disenchanted by the emergence of a wave of younger Russian female tennis players who besides sharing Anna’s major tennis strength - scorching looks - can actually play the game as well.  This week the long-time pin-up idol announced that she "would not be fit" for the world's premier grass-court tournament, Wimbledon, which begins next Monday at the glamourous All England Tennis Club. But AnyoneForTee understands she is privately miffed by the level of media attention being paid to the likes of 16-year old Russian darling Maria Sharapova (pictured right), plus a whole new generation of Russian racquet-wielding glamour pusses, including Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina, Dinara Safina, Tatiana Panova, Nadja Petrova and Elena Bovina (all pictured below). | ||||||
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Instead of playing in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament, the DFS Classic in Birmingham, the "injured" Kournikova was spotted at a private driving range just outside Moscow, working on her golf game, which she believes is good enough to take her to the top of the LPGA tour. Interviewed exclusively by a trembling AnyoneForTee reporter, Kournikova said she was attracted by the big prize-money on offer on the American LPGA tour and the lack of young Russian rivals.  Admitting she has yet to make proper contact with a golf ball, she denies this will hold her back in her LPGA career debut. "Not being able to hit the ball never held me back at tennis," she retorted. "And as I understand golf, you don't have to get the ball over the net, which was the bit I found difficult about tennis."AnyoneForTee has learned that the LPGA has agreed to grant a special exemption to Kournikova to allow her to play on the US women’s tour. This is expected to be done in time to allow the Russian to play in the US Women’s Open in North Ridge, Oregon on July 3-6. The LPGA believes that any backlash from fellow players will be more than compensated by the huge global exposure Kournikova’s presence will give the game. "Anna will be bigger than Tiger," said one insider. "Can you imagine the media coverage we’ll get if she’s paired with Natalie Gulbis, Grace Park and Annika Sörenstam, which is what we're planning." Kournikova is understood to have already landed a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Gobra - "Supporting women’s golf for 20 years" - the world’s leading provider of sports bras, as worn by Se Ri Pak, Laura Diaz, Laura Davies and Craig Stadler. | ||||||
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"She may not win the Open, but with Anna’s figure, she’ll sure perform well in the cup," said a Gobra spokeswoman. (Click the pictures for full size versions) Experts are divided as to how the Russian blond bombshell will perform on the fairway. "Based on her tennis ability, we can safely predict she’ll never shoot an ace," said one leading male pro dismissively. "She may be inexperienced but with her tennis background, she's still likely to record some pretty useful net scores," said another. Anna Kournikova factfile:
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If, however, she should be coached by Butch Harmon, watch out for fireworks when she meets Tiger Woods. The resemblance between Anna and Tiger's girlfriend, Elin, is striking.
Anna will no doubt be looking forward to wearing one of her figure-revealing Gobra outfits (pictured right) when she debuts on tour. But despite their desire to have her as an LPGA player, we wonder if the powers that be will let her get away with it. Remember what happened when world no. 1 Annika Sörenstam tried it? (To find out, click
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