Anna: it's hard being me

I turned up for my interview with Anna Kournikova, the Russian tennis superbabe, wanting to hate her. She is only 21, my boyfriend is in love with her, she has the ability to make even a white shell suit sexy and, despite never having won a singles title in her life, she is the highest-earning female athlete in the world.

She travels the globe, exercising along the way, her every whim pandered to, in between dates with Latin love god Enrique Iglesias. But after an hour in her company, I came away feeling a little bit sorry for her. Because it's much harder being Anna Kournikova than you might have been led to believe.

We meet in the genteel surroundings of Eastbourne, where she is warming up for this week's tournament and next week's hopefully not too fleeting appearance at Wimbledon. Last year, male fans wept openly when she was forced to withdraw at the last minute due to a broken bone in her foot. The injury meant she was out of action for 10 months, the main reason, she tells me, that she has slipped to number 55 in the female world ranking. But, despite the fact that she only earned £220,000 in prize money last year, she still managed to net £7 million in sponsorship deals. Life should be sweet. But, like any professional athlete in a sport that is perhaps second only to football in its relentless schedule and competitive spirit, not to mention the huge pressure that comes with such astronomical potential earnings, the reality behind the strawberries and cream exterior is one of grinding hard work that is often mind-numbingly boring and repetitive.

Kournikova has had her future mapped out for her from the age of five, when she first picked up a racquet. Day in, day out, whether she is tired, or has a headache, or simply doesn't feel like it, she trains for four hours. No wonder the shine on the golden girl of tennis is beginning to look a little tarnished.

Today, she is doing a photo call in front of the new billboard ad for Berlei's Shock Absorber bra. Much to the annoyance of the assembled posse of photographers, her bra is covered up by her ubiquitous Adidas top - she has dozens of sponsorship deals, each with its own demands on her time and body. Anna has a reputation for being a bit of a grump with the Press, but today she is all radiant smiles, tossing her flaxen mane in the sunshine, patiently turning this way and that. I follow her into the dressing room and she twists her hair into a bun, sucks off her lip gloss and folds those legendary legs beneath her. I ask her if she is at all vain and whether she is, in fact, a natural blonde (I told you I set out to dislike her). She looks hurt.

"Of course it's natural," she drawls. All those casting directors keen to put her in the next Bond movie as a Russian villain will be disappointed - she doesn't have a trace of a Russian accent, having lived in Florida since the age of 10. "My hair gets bleached by the sun, I've never dyed it. And I never wear make-up when I'm playing, I don't have time to even think about that. I've learned to focus."

But hasn't that dedication meant she has missed out on having fun, getting drunk, getting an education, perhaps? "Of course I'm educated," she snaps indignantly. "And yes, occasionally I eat junk food and hang out with my friends. But I'm naturally selfdisciplined and I love what I do." I tell her that one female tennis player I spoke to said it was a relief to get injured - it gave her some time off, a few weeks when she didn't have to be perfect and perform. "I am not perfect," she says, misunderstanding me slightly. 'I wasn't happy to be injured, it was very frustrating, I wore a cast for three months, but I still had to train, to keep fit and strong. This is my job, I take it very, very seriously. No, I don't get time off, but I wouldn't know any other way to be.'

I ask her if she is in fact the highest-paid sportswoman in the world. "Maybe," she says, shrugging those wide shoulders. "I don't really know." She says that because she spends more than 35 weeks a year on the tennis circuit, she rarely sees the inside of her house in Miami, and adds that she never has time to go shopping, although she has just bought a new four-wheel drive. She says she might have a Porsche, but she's not sure. She mostly sees the inside of hotel rooms ("It's hard always living out of a bag") and is accompanied everywhere by her doting "not at all pushy" parents.

Her relationship with Russian ice hockey star Sergei Federov sadly didn't last - not surprising, given the very small window each day when she is not training, resting or flying somewhere new. She says she has made some friends among the other players, but admits that she often feels lonely.

Kournikova does sometimes think that being beautiful is a poisoned chalice: people underestimate her talent. She knows how David Beckham must feel - so much pressure to live up to your looks, so much venom if you don't. But she understands that in the world of sportswear marketing, image is (almost) everything and she agrees the sport needs stars - the promise of an appearance by Anna Kournikova at a tournament boosts box office and TV ratings more than almost any other player, something she is very proud of.

To be honest, take away the hair and the teeth and the sculpted brown tummy and Kournikova is a supremely fit, naturally talented athlete in a sport that regularly chews up and spits out young players who aren't mentally and physically tough enough. Indeed, she recently took Serena Williams to a gruelling three sets. "Yes, I did. So?" she says crossly when I mention it.

She has a liveried chauffeur and a shiny Mercedes to ferry her around town, but tells me she prefers to walk everywhere - good for the buttocks, and it gives her time to think, to de-stress before a big match. I wish her luck and she offers me her car to take me to the station. I'm now so charmed by her sunny disposition I almost forget to ask about her rumoured romance with Enrique Iglesias. She lets out a grunt worthy of a double-handed backhand. "I made a video with him because the record company asked me to. I turned up for the shoot in LA and it was fun," she smiles enigmatically. What was fun? Kissing him?

"That kiss in the video is what started all the rumours," she says. "There is absolutely no truth in them. I'm only 21, I'm not thinking about the future or settling down. And don't even talk to me about having children. I'm just concentrating on being a better tennis player."

So, does she bounce in the Berlei bra? She giggles girlishly. Seven million quid? I think she's worth every penny.

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