Why Anna Kournikova sparked a heated online debate

An American tennis journalist has sparked a furious online debate, with one name in particular dividing fans.

The International Tennis Federation inadvertently kicked off the debate after celebrating Chinese New Year with a post about the country’s first grand slam champion, Li Na.

That in turn saw WTA Tennis Insider writer, Courtney Nguyen, declare the Chinese star part of her Top 10 most influential women in tennis.

Respected New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg decided to get in on the fun but it was his controversial selection of Anna Kournikova that raised eyebrows the most.

The Russian never won a grand slam singles title, despite reaching a career-high of number eight in the world.

Kournikova did team up with Martina Hingis to win doubles grand slam titles at Wimbledon in 1999 and the Australian Open in 2002.

However, the glamour girl’s career ended prematurely in 2003 when injuries saw her call time on her career at just 21.

Regardless, by the time the Russian had retired her name and brand were synonymous with the sport and known all around the world.

Moreover, her star power helped usher in a new wave of women’s tennis players and fans of the sport – as explained by one of her former coaches, Ken Merritt.

“Construction workers were watching tennis, business people were watching tennis. It wasn’t just normal country club corporate clients that were watching tennis now,” Merritt said in a 2015 interview with CNN.

“Women’s tennis had a lot of TV deals after she was playing. There’s a lot of things Anna did for the sport that went well beyond the box scores of wins or losses.”

Parallels can be easily drawn between the type of influence Kournikova wielded compared to the social media influence current star Eugenie Bouchard boasts.

Kournikova’s life off the court included a number of high-profile NHL star boyfriends, before the Russian married pop superstar Enrique Iglesias.

The 37-year-old started dating the singer in 2001 and the couple has twin children together.

In terms of being among the most influential women in tennis, however, Kournikova’s addition has led to some furious debate on social media.