Anna quits her TV role

Tennis star Anna Kournikova has quit her new job as a TV reporter after one week.

The Russian beauty was employed by an American station to cover the US Open. But Kournikova, 22, failed to make an impact with her reports from the tournament.

One commentator said "her TV gig makes her tennis look good".

Kournikova was said to be depressed by all the waiting around and was criticised for "wobbling her head" when interviewing.

Kournikova, taking a break from tennis because of a back injury, also startled players while they were relaxing by roaming locker rooms in a micro-skirt.

She was mobbed by tennis fans whenever she strolled around the Flushing Meadow courts in New York. And she even allowed herself to be interviewed by a rival TV channel in the players' lounge. On an electronic golf machine, she lost credibility when she held a golf club with her hands the wrong way round.

The USA Network denied today she had been sacked.

Executive producer Gordon Beck said: "She has other commitments and we have filmed several pieces with her which we have in reserve.

"This was always going to be a trial for Anna to see if she liked the role and a trial for us to see if we liked what she did. She may come back towards the end of the tournament."

Kournikova, who lives in Florida, has fallen to 146 in world rankings.