Ngwako Modjadji
Anna Kournikova, one of the most famous female athletes in the world, will lock horns with South African number one Amanda Coetzer in the MTN Challenge sponsored by Spar next month.
The exhibition matches will be played on November 8 at Westridge Park in Durban, November 10 at Spier Wine Estate in Cape Town and November 11 at the Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg.
The tourney will have prize money of R1-million, divided up into R250000 for each match and a further R250000 bonus for the overall winner of the event. Although she is ranked in the top 20 in the world, Kournikova has had injury problems this year and has lost all three matches she has played in the past eight months, including a first-round loss at last week’s Kremlin Cup.
Coetzer has played Kournikova eight times previously, winning six of the encounters.
Promoter Franco Barocas said it was difficult to follow in the footsteps of the highly successful Steffi Graf versus Coetzer challenge in 1999. “We believed few players could draw the same interest and crowd in South Africa and these are Kournikova, Hingis or one of the William sisters.
“We therefore are extremely pleased with Anna accepting our invitation and look forward to a closely fought series and the high level of excitement Anna attracts wherever she plays.”
Wayne Tlhagoane, MTN National Sponsor Manager said MTN is thrilled to be bringing Anna Kournikova to South Africa.
“Anna is undoubtedly the number one tennis player in the world when it comes to personifying the glamour that has attracted so many people to women’s tennis. It is highly unlikely that South Africans would have been able to see Anna in action on the normal tennis circuit therefore it was MTN’s intention to ensure that through an innovative and exciting concept like The MTN Challenge, we would be able to bring her here.”
At the age of 14, Kournikova became the youngest tennis player to compete and win in Fed Cup competition in the first tie of 1996, helping Russia defeat Sweden 3-0.
Kournikova proved her superiority when she became a semifinalist at the 2000 Sydney with wins over Sabine Appelmans, Jennifer Cariati and Alexandra Stevenson. She scored her first “double bagel” at the 2000 Australian Open in the first round, winning 6-0,6-0 over Patricia Wartusch. Kournikova made history when she defeated world No. 2 Lindsay Davenport at 1999 Hilton Head in Amelia Islands for first win over a Top 10 player in eleven months also trashed No. 10 Patty Schynder in her next match to reach the semifinals. She defeated six players perched among the world’s Top 10 in 1998 and reached the Top 10 herself. She was selected to the 1998 People Magazine “50 Most Beautiful People list, one of only two athlete to make the list.
Although Kournikova suffered a stress fracture in the right foot while practising for the Canadian Open in early August 1999 and was off the tour for nearly three months she ended 1999 as the world’s No. 1 ranked double player.
Kournikova started 2001 on a positive note by reaching her second career Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open after coming back from down a set and 1-3 to Barbara Shett.
Coetzer started 2001 on high note when she reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2 years at the Australian Open where she led world No. 3 Venus Williams 5-3 in the final set before falling 8-6. She was also single finalist for a second time at Amelia Islands, where she clobbered Jelena Dokic.
In 1999 at Tokyo she hammered world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals and collected her first win over No. 4 Monica Seles in the semifinals before falling to No. 2 Martina Hings in the final.
Tickets for the tournament will be on sale through Ticketweb immediately.