Kournikova to face Buzz

PHOTOGRAPHER: Mike MacAdam

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Serena Williams won’t be the only star returning to Schenectady this summer.

Anna Kournikova, known more for her popularity with fans and magazine-cover good looks than her tennis accomplishments, will play for the St. Louis Aces against the New York Buzz at Central Park on Tuesday, July 22.

World TeamTennis announced the 2008 schedule on Monday, which includes a Buzz home match on Wednesday, July 9, against the Washington Kastles and Williams, the eight-time Grand Slam singles winner who played at Central Park in 2000.

“Now, we have two big names,” Buzz general manager Nitty Singh said. “Anna’s popularity reaches across the board.”

Kournikova reached a career- high world ranking of No. 8 in 2000, and paired with Martina Hingis to win the Australian Open doubles championship twice.

She played against the Buzz in 2006, losing a singles set to Viktoriya Kutuzova.

Named among People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People four times, Kournikova still graces the covers of magazines and remains in the public spotlight.

Before retiring due to a bad back in 2003, she had notched wins over Jennifer Capriati, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Hingis and Steffi Graf. She also reached the semifinals in singles at Wimbledon in 1997 and the quarterfinals at the 2001 Australian Open.

The last three matches on the Buzz schedule are at home.

At Central Park, they’ll play Boston on Sunday, July 6; Washington on July 9; Philadelphia on Sunday, July 13; Sacramento on Friday, July 18; New York Sportimes on Sunday, July 20; St. Louis on July 22; and Delaware on Wednesday, July 23.

Full team lineups will be completed on April 1 when the WTT holds its annual player draft in Miami. Other marquee players competing in the WTT this season include Davenport, Andy Roddick, Venus Williams, Martina Navratilova and doubles specialists Bob and Mike Bryan.

All Buzz home matches begin at 7:30 p.m.

Schedule

July 3 — at Delaware; 5 — at St. Louis;

6 — BOSTON; 8 — at New York Sportimes;

9 — WASHINGTON (Serena Williams); 11 — at Washington; 12 — at Boston;

13 — PHILADELPHIA; 15 — at Kansas City; 18 — SACRAMENTO; 19 — at Philadelphia; 20 — NEW YORK SPORTIMES; 22 — ST. LOUIS (Anna Kournikova); 23 — DELAWARE.