Sorry guys but I had to make a comment. I have impressed by how many of you have actually said that you do not like her. Men and sport and females. In my opinion it just gives them a chance to look at her legs. Common guys how many of you really watch tennis??
Well, yeah, I knew someone would pull this one.
However, I did say positive things about her, just not many, because I honestly don’t see them. In terms of looking at the positive aspects of attractive women, I am perfectly capable of doing that. If you go back and read my OP, I mentioned several women that I find to be stunning, and could go on and on about each. The reason I did not is because I thought I made it obvious that I find them more attractive, and listing all the reasons would have made the OP way too long.
I can sit here and describe reason upon reason why I find any woman attractive, including myself. However, the reason
I posted this was because I honestly do not see how this particular woman is considered more beautiful than many other, celebs or no.
Actually, I totally agree with Nenya_Elizabeth’s theory, but wanted to hear some answers from guys than may have shown me a quality I cannot see.
So, while telling me why my outlook on life is faulty or bitter, or whatever you’re suggesting, you added nothing in terms of clarification or interest to the question I posed in the OP.
Care to give that a shot, Trisk? 
Oh-and the beauty is inthe eye of the beholder thing? Of course I recognize and respect that. However, coming up #1 in multiple contest means that there’s got to be something that the majority of the voters see. That’s what I was wondering about…
But why?
I wanna understand-I really do-but I just don’t see it!
Maybe I should see that Enrique Iglesias video? Anything to that?
Oh-also-the SDMB link said her status was “married”
I didn’t know that. True? To whom?
She’s young.
She’s athletic.
She’s foreign.
What else do you need?
Well, OK. Maybe the “damn” modifier was going a bit overboard. She does have an athletic, well-toned body, which is very appealing to me. And, dye job or not, I like that long hair of hers too (as long as she doesn’t have “Wal-Mart” hair). Her face is more of baby-face to me, I guess. More cute than pretty. I do like her smile.
But, like I said, I’m only speaking physically here. I think her personality would be a big turn-off to me.
She’s married to Red Wing Sergei Fedorov, sidle.
And what Max Torque said, plus she is very pretty.
Kournikova’s ok. Personally I find Martina Hingis to be much cuter.
Kournikova stayed at the house of a then friend of mine during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. This was shortly before everyone had heard of her. She practiced at the tennis club about half a mile from my place. I think she looks okay; personally I prefer brunettes.
Originally posted by sidle
“But why?
I wanna understand-I really do-but I just don’t see it!”
sidle, maybe you can see it
here.
To me, she simply looks very good! I don’t know anything about her personality, I have never seen her play tennis, have never seen any videos, and I know nothing else about her. Within that limited context, she wins.
Sure Sidle.
By the way, I did not intend to imply that your point of view was faulty. I think it is very common among women. I just don’t think men think that way, and consequently a lot of men think a lot of women are attractive.
Anna: Well, in shape, seems to be very happy to be in her body, doesn’t seem to mind if folks like looking at her, has a fairly active face, with reasonably regular features.
Sweat is kinda hot. Intensity too. But then I always have appreciated women who could kick some ass.
She isn’t a big deal fantasy player for me. (I am waaaaay to old for her, among other things, like too fat, too clumsy, etc.) But, in a purely physical appraisal, she’s hot enough to look over fairly well. There are a lot of fairly hot looking women athletes around but with the number of times that even a non sports guy like me has seen her picture, I get lots of opportunities to see a pose that looks good to me.
But go figure, I even think some of the Pro Wrestling chicks are fairly hot.
Tris
“Swat my hind with a melon rind, That’s my penguin state of mind.” ~ Opus ~
I think the real question here is for the Anna bashers. What is YOUR deal with her? She is an attractive world class tennis player. End of story. I don’t know anything about her except what I’ve seen watching tennis. Personally, I don’t think she is the most attractive female tennis player, but she is right up there. Being a world class tennis player is very attractive. If “Katie Holmes, Natasha Henstridge, Salma Hayek, Susan Ward, Charlize Theron” were young tennis stars they would likely be at the top of the list.
She’s got great skin. I wouldn’t say she looks boyish or manly at all, to me she looks European which I find quite sexy. She looks really good in pigtails.
And she’s not afraid to flash her panties either. Google images for Kournikova and looks for the pics in the red berret.
Huh. I think there are a number of female tennis players just as attractive. Jennifer Capriati springs to mind. Maybe cause she’s not blond?
My experience is that women evaluate other women by looking at the parts separately: “Brooke Shields has huge eyebrows! Ick!” Most guys then think, “She has eyebrows?”
My theory is that women, being women, just don’t tend to groove on the overall projection of femininity that guys catch almost instantly. I can’t think of a single “gorgeous” woman that we couldn’t find plenty of detractors for on this board, or any other. I don’t just mean that different people have different taste. The comments would be what we’ve seen here: a picking apart of different traits in an attempt to show that the overall effect could not be attractive.
I have long wondered if the fascination with her is because she was only about 16 when she got famous, and it was the “Lolita” thing. I always found the UK tabloid obsession with her rather unhealthy. She was no Mandy Smith, for example. Kournikova really did look like a young, fresh schoolgirl, not a womanly vamp. Plus a huge proportion of the men drooling over her were old enough to be her grandfather, let alone her father.
Now IMO she is obviously an attractive young woman - athletic body etc - but really not that special, especially when compared to many supermodels/Hollywood stars/pop starlets. I think it must be the hype that keeps the attraction going for all you guys!
I think it’s pretty simple, it’s all about physical fitness, which she clearly is. “Thin” in and of itself isn’t that attractive to me. But thin AND athletic, that’s where it’s at. A girl can diet all she wants to, but until she hits the gym (and I mean weights) and gets some good muscle tone, she’s only halfway there. The shape of a female (really, anybody’s) body is determined by the underlying muscles. So the more fit you are, generally the better you look.
Waifs like many of the “supermodels” are can’t touch a girl like Anna.
She’s very fit, healthy, has confidence, and takes care of herself. What’s not to like (beside the fact that she made 54 unforced errors in a recent tennis tournament)?
Sure, that might have something to do with it. And if you want to know why blondes in general are seen as sexier - in general, mind you; people do have different tastes - it’s because they tend to stick out, physically speaking. Take a crowd of people. Most of them will have dark hair. Those who have red hair or blonde hair will then be highly contrasted to everyone else in the crowd. And there are - or maybe it’s only my perception - more blondes than redheads, perhaps because more women will bleach their hair rather than dye it red.
So Anna sticks out because she’s a) fit and b) blonde.
But she prefers to date Russian hockey players, so that leaves most of us out…
Hmmm…I maybe a bit brash, but let me just say that I had women that were undeniably more attractive than Anna, BUT…
…she does have “something” about her. I don’t even like blondes…I just find blonde to be a negative, not a plus. But Anna has something…
Okay, that being said, here is what I can determine:
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She has the most consistently colored skin tones I’ve ever seen. It’s immaculate. When she sweats, she glistens just right.
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She has a temptresses smile
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She is ‘young’ and acts seductively. Guys are programmed for this…(Britney Spears)
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She works it. (Gabby Reece, all 6 feet 3 inches of her worked it to the point that more men liked here than other tall athletic women)
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Back to 'youth"…long ponytail on Anna - Guys love that.
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Unlike other women athletes who are attractive, she has no significant flaw to be overlooked when fantasizing about her…which is different that almost all other female athletes. Examples…Steffi Graf: …hot, it you overlook that nose…Gabby Reece: Hot, but huge…and flat chested… Mia Hamm - Hot, but not glamorous…
…and the list goes on.
Tennis just sat there with young sweaty women who didn’t have a clue how to work it. Anna works it. Other female tennis players bothered to show up to play tennis. Anna bothered to show up with a perfect tan, perfect hair, perfect little outfit, perfect smile, and capitalized on something other tennis stars didn’t.
Wow, Philster, bingo. I think you’re right on all accounts!