Anna Kournikova still coming back

By Sandra Eggers Sports Central, eSports Columnist

For Anna Kournikova fans, 2001 has been a really bad year. There have been limited sightings of the Russian starlet strutting on the catwalk, water skiing with various boyfriends and promoting her image, but not much is happening on the tennis court. And to make matters worse, the winless streak is still alive.

After several months away from competition, Kournikova returned to the court at La Costa in the Acura Classic, giving Anna fans another chance to cheer for their favorite star. The crowd was treated to a great first set tie break that went in the Russian's favor, but it was all downhill from there. The first-round match lasted just over two hours with Australia's Nicole Pratt closing out the victory, as Kournikova could capture only four games in the final two sets.

The good news for Kournikova and her fans is that the tennis Spice Girls were reunited in San Diego, as the team of Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova advanced to the finals in the doubles competition. The top-seeded duo of Hingis/Kournikova rebounded after losing a close first set and easily took the second to force a deciding third set against the #2 seeded team of Cara Black/Elena Likhovtseva. Unfortunately for Kournikova, another doubles title was not to be, at least not at La Costa.

So after a long absence, Kournikova was back for one singles match and four doubles matches, 13 sets of tennis in all. Hope you didn't blink, or you might have missed it altogether. You really couldn't expect much more than that from someone who has been away from the game since February. Kournikova herself was not displeased, saying, "it was not so bad." Coming back from injury is becoming an insurmountable task, as the girls continue to move world class tennis to the next level, leaving Kournikova behind.

The bad news is that immediately following the San Diego tournament, Kournikova pulled out of the eStyle.com Classic at the Manhattan Beach Country Club and the Rogers AT&T Cup in Toronto. That means no more match play for Kournikova before the U.S. Open, as she is not entered in the final warm-up event, the Pilot Pen Classic in New Haven. This is not good news for Kournikova fans who had ideas of seeing her break through at the Open.

More bad news. Kournikova is on the verge of dropping out of the Top 20. She is hanging on ever so slightly to #20 over Anke Huber, but Huber will likely pick up some additional points before the Open, and that means a tough draw for Anna in New York.

Sorry Kournikova fans, but it isn't looking good. No matter how much you do, or don't, like Anna, the reality of it is that she is losing ground on the top players and is still lacking a big weapon that will get her back to the top.

It's going to be a long road back for Kournikova, so make sure you catch her next few opening round matches, or you might not see her play at all. Then again, there's always the doubles.

Article courtesy of Sports Central