sports and famous: Anastasia Myskina Female Tennis Player Photos

Tennis star Anastasia Andrayevna Myskina was born in Moscow, Russia on July 8th 1981. From the age of 6 her parents, Audrey and Galina, sent her to Moscow's Spartak tennis club. Here she trained alongside other up and coming tennis greats, including Anna Kournikova and Elena Dementieva. They were coached under the expert guideance of Rausa Islanova, mother of men's tennis pro Marat Safin. Myskina says of her childhood coach:

'She knows exactly how to coach kids. It's so hard to tell kids they have to do certain things, but she's really good at it. She understands children and she's a great person.'

In 1998, at the age of 17, Myskina broke into the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) top 500 and turned professional. On only her second main draw appearance in Palermo, Myskina won her first WTA title. Channelling her talent, she rapidly climbed the rankings to become one of the best baseline players in the world.

Since becoming professional Myskina has won a total of 10 WTA tour singles titles. In 2003 she fulfilled her dream of becoming the first Russian woman to win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Russia. The next year her career reached an all time high when she reached number 2 in the world rankings, and was named world champion by the International Tennis Federation. As well as successfully defending her Kremlin Cup title and representing Russia in the Olympic games in Athens, she also triumphed in the French Open. In a stunning series of victories, she knocked out Venus Williams in the quarter-final, Jennifer Capriati in the semis, and Elena Dementieva in the final. As she clinched the final point to claim the championship she couldn't quite believe she had won. On an all time high after the match, she was asked what it meant for her to win

Anastasia Myskina Female Tennis Player Photos