Name : Jelena Dokic
Profession : Tennis Player
Date of Birth : 12 April, 1983
Place of Birth : Osijek, Croatia
Plays : Right (two-handed backhand)
Favorite Surface : Grass and Clay
WTA Tour Titles : Singles: 5, Doubles: 4
Name : Grant Hill
Profession : NBA Player
Date of Birth : October 5, 1972
Place of Birth : Dallas, Texas
Height : 6′ 8%22
Weight : 225 lbs
Pos : SF
Drafted : 1994, 1st round, 3rd pick by Pistons
Biography
NBA writers instantly dubbed him the next Michael Jordan. His dad Calvin was an all-time great, playing for the Dallas Cowboys. His dad taught Grant to take things in stride. When Grant played for Duke in his college years he lead them to back to back NCAA titles in 1991, 1992. He was the Third overall pick in 1994 NBA Draft. He was Co-Rookie of the year with Jason Kidd years 1994 and 95. In 1996-97 he was the only player to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. The first Piston since 1983 to post back-to-back 40-point games at Orlando on 1/3/00 with 42 points and at Atlanta on 1/5/00 with 42 points
Career Highlights
The first Piston since 1983 to post back-to-back 40-point games at Orlando on 1/3/00 with 42 points and at Atlanta on 1/5/00 with 42 points. In 1999-2000 ranked 3rd in the NBA in points per game with 25.8 and 20th in field-goal percentage (.489). Poured in a career-high 46 points (14-21 FG, 18-22 FT), grabbed 7 rebounds and added 7 assists in a 106-103 win over the Washington Wizards on 2/8/99. Named to the 1997-98 NBA All-NBA Second Team after leading the Pistons in scoring (21.1 ppg, 12th in the NBA), assists (6.8 apg, 13th) and steals (1.77 spg, 11th). Led the NBA in triple-doubles for the third consecutive season in 1997-98, with 4, and has 28 in his career. Registered 15 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game in New York, his fourth consecutive All-Star Game start, and has averaged 12.5 ppg, 3.0 apg and 2.3 rpg in 24.0 mpg. Named to the 1996-97 All-NBA First Team and was the winner of the IBM Award for the 1996-97 season. Has appeared in 8 career NBA Playoff games, averaging 21.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 4.8 apg. Participated as a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. Men’s Basketball Team in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Led all players in All-Star Game voting in 1996 after becoming the first rookie in NBA history, in 1995, to lead the league in voting. Named 1994-95 NBA co-Rookie of the Year (with the Mavericks’ Jason Kidd) and to the 1994-95 NBA All-Rookie First Team. Recorded the first triple-double of his career, with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, against the Orlando Magic on 4/7/95. A member of the 1991 and 1992 back-to-back NCAA Champion Duke Blue Devils .
Name : Geena Davis
Birth Name : Virginia Elizabeth Davis
Profession : actress, athlete, model, producer, writer
Date of Birth : January 21, 1956
Place of Birth : Wareham, Massachusetts, USA
Fan Mail : Kevin Huvane C/O Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
USA
Biography
In her early twenties Virginia Elizabeth Davis, at 6 ft tall, was the perfect live department store mannequin, the perfect fashion model, and a pretty good waitress. You may not expect your mannequins and models to have a MENSA IQ (you never know with waitresses, of course), but what Geena Davis had, as well as height and good looks and brains, was a degree in fine arts from Boston University, and a budding career as a conspicuous and arresting actor.
Stunning and goofy, awkward and graceful, glittering and earthy, Davis has played sci-fi, horror, action, drama, comedy and romance with equal penance. She debuted in film with a small part in Tootsie (1982), and was cast, that year, in a recurring role in television?s Family Ties. She went on to Buffalo Bill in 1983, and wrote one episode of that cult hit.
In 1985, Davis starred as a single lawyer looking for love in the television series Sara. The show proved to be ten years ahead of its time, but its failure opened big-screen doors. What followed was Fletch (1985), Secret Weapons (1985), Transylvania 6-5000 (1985), The Fly (1986) ?and a 1987 to 1990 marriage to her Fly co-star Jeff Goldblum (she had been married briefly, in 1981, to restaurant manager Richard Eminolo) ?Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), Beetlejuice (1988), and The Accidental Tourist (1998 ?for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar).
It was for Davis?next film, Thelma and Louise (1991), that fans, critics, and judge panels went mad. Davis (and co-star Susan Sarandon) netted Oscar, Golden Globe, British Academy Award and MTV Movie Award nominations, as well as the Boston Society of Film Critics Award, the National Board of Review Best Actress Award, and the David di Donatello Award. 1992 brought Hero and A League of Their Own (for another Golden Globe nomination and MTV Movie Award nod).
In 1994, Davis tried her hand at producing, also starring in, Speechless, another Golden Globe nominated film. She has since, under the name of her production company, ?The Forge,?produced The Politician?s Wife, The Decision, Mistrial and Bigmalion. She was the lead in Angie (1994), and then two films ?Cutthroat Island (1995) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) ?by director Renny Harlin, to whom she was married from 1993 to 1998. In 1999, Davis was nominated for a Saturn Award for her performance in Stuart Little.
As if all that weren?t enough, Davis is a world-class athlete, ranked 24th of the 28 semi-finalists for the United States Archery Team in 1999. She?s ?way down?at number 61 on one list (Empire Magazine?s) of the ?Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.? Oh yes, and she speaks Swedish.
Name : Gabrielle Reece
Profession : Volleyball player and model
Date of Birth : January 6, 1970
Education : Florida State College
Biography
Gabrielle Reece was born on January 6, 1970. She was welcomed into the world in La Jolla, California.
She decided to attend college across the nation at Florida State. She quickly became a college sensation, setting school records for solo and total blocks. By the time she graduated, she was inducted into Florida State’s Athletica Hall of Fame.
Reece competed five seasons on the four-person tour where she was twice named the tour’s Top Offensive Player. She led the league in kills four times and blocks once. In 1999, her first full-season on the two-person beach circuit, Gabrielle earned $23,400.
In 1989, while still at Florida State, Gabrielle started modeling. She has had numerous magazine covers since including Shape, Elle, Bazaar, and Life Magazine. In 2000, she did a Playboy spread that landed her on the cover.
Off the court, Reece is married to extreme surfer Laird Hamilton. She also has co-written a book about her life as a pro beach volleyball player, ‘Big Girl in the Middle’. And of course, on those lazy Sunday afternoons, she also writes a column for Women’s Sports and Fitness Magazine.
| Name : | David Beckham |
|---|---|
| Birth Name : | David Robert Joseph Beckham |
| Profession : | actor, member of Real Maddrid Football Club, model |
| Date of Birth : | May 2, 1975 |
| Place of Birth : | Leytonstone, London, England, UK |
| Wife : | Victoria Beckham Adams (former member of Spice Girls) |
| Biography |
| One of England’s most influential football players and a tabloid favorite, former Manchester United’s midfielder, David Beckham, has become known for his talent as well as his temperament.David Robert Joseph Beckham was born May 2nd, 1975, in Leytonstone, England. As a student in Essex, Beckham won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills Award at the age of 11, making his football talent evident at an early age.bright like beckham
After being signed as a trainee July 8, 1991, the Bobby Charlton fan played as a substitute for Andrei Kanchelskis on September 23, 1992. The game against Brighton marked Beckham’s debut as a United player. Winner of the 1992 F.A. Youth Cup and runner-up a year later, Beckham was finally signed as a professional United player in January 1993. The 18-year-old soccer pro played in his first Champions League game and contributed a goal to the team’s final win. Despite his talent, Beckham only made his full debut in April 1995. He became a first team regular in the 1996-’97 seasons as a right midfielder. In 1996, not only did England get a taste of Beckham’s crossing, free kick and long shot talent, but the player also won the F.A. Premier League, Cup and Charity Shield; all in the same year. 1996 was also the year Beckham made his international debut in a game against Moldova. negative blows The same summer, Beckham scored his first international goal in the June 26, 1998 game against Colombia, although he made waves in a negative way. During the 1998 World Cup in France, Beckham kicked Diego Simeone lightly in the back of the leg, in retaliation for having been fouled by the player. Needles to say, Beckham’s vengeful kick basically kicked himself — out of the game, that is. Outnumbered by Argentina, England lost the game (at least that’s what they attribute their loss to), and Beckham’s nation was unforgiving, to say the least. The tabloids later followed Beckham off the soccer field and onto his posh wedding to Spice Girl Victoria Adams, in July 1999. In March of 2000, the couple welcomed their son Brooklyn Joseph to the world. Beckham’s personal life has since overshadowed the negative media stories focusing on his bad temper, shifting to stories on to his wife, who is also a tabloid favorite. return to success Back to soccer though: In 1999, Beckham won another F.A. Cup, and came in 2nd in the European Ballon d’Or awards and as FIFA’s World Player of the Year. He also won a Champions League title, an Intercontinental Cup and an English league title that same year. But despite the honors, Beckham’s temper had not improved; something that was evident after he received a red-card for tackling a Necaxa player at the FIFA World Club Championships. David Beckham: My Story, the United Manchester midfielder’s autobiography, was released in 1998. Beckham also made headlines after his Ferrari had apparently been sabotaged, and there were even attempts to kidnap Beckham’s eldest son, Brooklyn. David and Victoria Beckham welcomed their second son, Romeo, into the world in September 2002. At the 2002 World Cup, in another tense matchup with Argentina, Beckham redeemed himself in the eyes of English fans when he converted a penalty kick that eventually gave England the victory. The red card he received four years earlier had been forgiven. a soccer powerhouse In June 2003, it was announced that Real Madrid would pay a transfer fee of $41 million for David Beckham, who joined a team full of star footballers like Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, and Ronaldo. His latest autobiography, Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground, is an in-depth look at Beckham’s rags to riches story, his career highlights with Manchester United, and how he balances super-stardom with his life as a family man. In entertainment news, Beckham became an even bigger name when the sleeper hit of 2003, Bend It Like Beckham, paid homage to the soccer player in its title. Beckham is also getting press as the poster boy for %22metrosexuals%22 worldwide. Lately, Beckham has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Rebecca Loos, his former personal assistant, has admitted that they had an affair, causing speculation that his marriage to Victoria Beckham is in trouble. The News of the World, a UK newspaper, also published an explicit transcript of the text messages exchanged between David Beckham and Rebecca Loos, and unidentified sources claim the pair had sex at the hotel Beckham was living in when he first arrived in Spain to play for Real Madrid. |
Name : Daniela Hantuchova
Profession : Tennis Player
Date of Birth : 24 April 1983
Place of Birth : Poprad, Slovakia
Height : 1.81 m
Weight : 56 Kg.
Handed : Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
Best Known As : Wimbledon mixed doubles winner 2001
Biography
Sanex WTA Tour Singles Titles: 1
Sanex WTA Tour Doubles Titles: 4
Grand Slam Titles: 2 mixed
ITF Women’s Circuit Singles tTitles: 3 singles
Career Prize Money: $317,000 (As of end of 2001)
Career Win/Loss Record: 89-42 (As of end of 2001)
Coached by Nigel Sears…All-court style of play…Father, Igor, is a computer scientist; mother, Marianna, is a toxicologist; brother, Igor, is a university student…Entire family plays tennis…Speaks Slovak, English and German…Other sports interests include skiing, basketball and skating…Enjoys music and playing piano as hobbies…Favorite city is Rome…Admires Miroslav Mecir for his style of play. Daniela Hantuchova won her first WTA singles title at Indian Wells in 2002, and by the end of that year was ranked #8 in the world in women’s singles. Hantuchova’s first full season of professional tennis was 1999, the year she turned 16. She won the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2001 (with Leos Friedl) and at the Australian Open in 2002 (with Kevin Ullyett). Hantuchova stands 5′11%22 tall, and her extra-long legs have earned her the frequent attention of photographers.
Name : Anna Kournikova
Profession : Tennis Player
Date of Birth : June 7, 1981
Place of Birth : Moscow, Russia
Education : she graduated from a Russian high school in 1997, and started at Physical Culture Russian University in September 1997
Fan Mail : c/o Octagon Management Group
1114 Av. of the Americas
New York, NT 10036
USA
Biography
Anna Kournikova was born June 7th 1981 in Moscow. Her parents names are Allah and Sergei. She received her first tennis raquet at 5 years old when her parents sold their tv to buy her for christmas. She played in a club near her place untill age 11. After, she moved to Bradenton, Florida (USA) to train with Nick Bollitierri. At 14, she represented Russia in a Fed cup match and became the youngest player ever to win a fed cup match.
She won her first professionnel title in 1999 at Midland, Michigan, an ITF tournament. She was 5th favoutie in Illinois the same year and won her 2nd career ITF tournament.
Kournikova made her WTA debut at 15 years old at the US Open where she finally lost against #1 player Steffi Graf. She also made it to the double quarter finals that same tournament.
More recently, she won the rookie of the year award in 1996. In 1997, she improved very much to even make it to the semis in Wimbledon. She lost to world number one Martina Hingis at the French Open and at Wimbledon. This year, she made her first career WTA final in Key Biscane against Venus Williams in a tough 3 set match. She also won her first doubles title with Monica Seles in Tokyo.
Kournikova is still very young and she seems to have a great future ahead. Her best WTA ranking is 10th reached a few months ago…
Kournikova won her first grand slam title this year (1999) with Martina Hingis in doubles at the Australian Open. Since then, they have played reguraly together and have rapidly became one of the best pairs actually…Anna finished #1 in doubles for the 1999 season, quite a good performance considering she didn’t compete in Wimbledon or in the US Open…
Anna now resides in Miami with her mom and is ready to give all she has to enter the top 5. As I am speaking, Anna no longer has a coach and is trained by her mom. Also, in 1999, she made an important move going from IMG to Octogon for her agency. Some speculate that she might had been jealous of all the sponsorship deals Martina Hingis was getting from IMG and she wasn’t getting. At Octogon, she is very well treated and her agent there is no one else than the big boss, Phil de Picciotto.
Name : Andre Agassi
Profession : Tennis Player
Date of Birth : Apr. 29, 1970
Place of Birth : Las Vegas, Nevada
Ex-wife : Brooke Shields
Wife : Steffi Graf
Biography
Andre was born on April 29, 1970, to Mike and Betty Agassi. His father, a former boxing champ and Olympian from Iran, settled in Las Vegas taking work as a tennis instructor. And as soon as little Andre could walk, Mike taped a racket to his son’s hand and hung a tennis ball over his crib. ”He was convinced that if my eyes are going to move around as a little baby, I might as well be looking at a tennis ball,” says Andrew. By the age of 10, Andre was beating fellow up-and-coming US players including Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. Aged 13, he’d simply learned all he could from his dad. Mike shipped his son off to legendary coach Nick Bollettieri’s famed tennis boot camp in Bradenton, Florida. But Andre didn’t take to the rigors of the tennis academy and began to rebel, growing out his hair and even wearing denim jeans to tournaments. In 1986 he left the training camp, but retained Nick as his coach, turning pro aged just 16. And he never looked back. ”I always planned on being a professional, and I figured I might as well just get out there and do it,” says Andre.
His bad boy image proved popular with both corporate sponsors and the ladies. Millions of dollars worth of endorsement deals rolled in and he was seen on the arm of a bevy of women, including Barbra Streisand. In 1992, he jetted off to Wimbledon at the last minute after nearly deciding to skip the All England lawn event entirely. Smart move. He shocked even himself, defeating Goran Ivanisevic in the finals and claiming his first major title. When his relationship with Nick soured, Andre turned to fellow American and pro Brad Gilbert to coach him and over the next couple of years he claimed two Grand Slam trophies and an Olympic gold medal. In 1993 he started dating Suddenly Susan star Brooke Shields and the two eventually married in California on April 19, 1997.
”I was playing a lot of golf, going out a lot, enjoying Brooke’s world,” says Andre. ”It was awesome…It was nice not to have the responsibility I’ve known since I was a child.” However, the charms of Hollywood soon wore thin and the couple divorced amicably just ten days shy of their two-year wedding anniversary. ”Love is not enough for a marriage to work,” he says.
Realising he missed playing competitive tennis, Andre started on a much-chronicled weight training programme and diet and began training with a purpose. With his 1999 win at the French Open he became the first man since Rod Laver in the Sixties to win all four grand slam events in his career and the only player besides German tennis star Steffi Graf to win all four plus an Olympic gold medal for singles.
Fittingly, he and Steffi soon began dating - and two years later the couple announced they were expecting their first child. ”He’s always tried to walk this balance between his life and his tennis, and here’s someone that supports both,” says Perry Rogers, Andre’s manager. ”So there is this complete balance. It just funnels right down together.” The high-profile pair wed on October 22, 2001, in a private ceremony in Las Vegas. Steffi gave birth to a baby boy, Jaden Gil, just four days later. In October 2003 the happy couple announced the birth of their second child, a girl whom they have called Jaz Elle.
Name : Amanda Coetzer
Profession : Tennis Player
Date of Birth : October 22, 1971
Place of Birth : Hoopstaad
Plays : Right hand, 2 handed backhand
ATP/WTA : 89
Best Known As : South Africa’s top tennis star
Biography
Amanda was born on October 22nd, 1971, in Hoopstad, South Africa. Her parents are Nico and Saska. Amanda also has three sisters, Isabel, Martelle and Nicola. Coetzer started playing against a wall being too young to play with her two older sisters. Her father then bought her a hitting machine and would set targets for her to practice. She practiced so much that she eventually made some money out of it and that’s how her career started!
In 1992 Coetzer climbed 50 places in the world rankings to 17. She made the semi-finals of two big tournaments, in Boca Raton and at the Italian Open. She also claimed two doubles titles, one in Toronto and the other in Puerto Rico. Tennis Magazine named her the year?s Most Improved Female Player. Coetzer finally broke through in 1993, winning her first WTA Tour title at the Melbourne Open. She added another title in Tokyo, upsetting second-seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semi-finals and beating hometown favourite Kimoko Date in the finals. She edged up to 15 in the world rankings. At Toronto in 1995 Coetzer made it through to the finals, where she was beaten by Monica Seles, but her path to the title decider included three huge wins, over top-seed Graf, fourth-seed Jana Novotna and fifth-seed Mary Pierce.
Coetzer achieved another first early in 1996, getting through to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam event for the first time at the Australian Open. She also reached the final of the tour event in Oklahoma City. Playing with Mary Pierce, she won the doubles event at the Nichirei tournament in Tokyo. 1997 proved to be the best year of Coetzer’s career as she rose to a career-high third position in the world rankings. At the Australian Open she again beat Steffi Graf. She went on to reach the final four of the tournament for the second year in succession. Later in the year, Coetzer handed the German her worst defeat ever defeating her in the quarterfinals of the French Open.The South African fighter then moved into the world?s top 10 for the first time when she won the WTA event in Budapest. She also won the doubles title with Alexandra Fusai. After her memorable year three awards followed for Coetzer, the most awards received by a single player in the history of the WTA Tour. She was named Most Improved Player, picked up the Diamond ACES award recognising player/fan interaction and, for the second time, laid claim to the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship award.
In 1999 she was the only player bowing out in the fourth round of the Grand Slam event. Then, in Tokyo, she beat world number one Lindsay Davenport and former world number one Monica Seles on her way to the finals, where she lost to Hingis. She made the finals at Antwerp and in Munich at the German Open in 2000, and made the semi-finals in New Haven and Oklahoma City. Coetzer reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2001, her first last eight in a Grand Slam event since the 1998 US Open. In February she won her eighth WTA title, defeating world number 10 Elena Dementieva in Acapulco. In Hamburg she made the final four, and the following week she recorded her five-hundredth career win, defeating Meghann Shaughnessy. In 2003 she landed the final victory of her career, capturing the Mexican Open for the second time, in the holiday playground of Acapulco.
In total, Coetzer won nine singles and nine doubles titles and accumulated over $5.5-million in career earnings. She was also one of the more popular players on the WTA tour. She represented South Africa at three Olympic Games - Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney - and played on the South African Fed Cup team as its number one player. Her grit, determination and give-it-all attitude continue to made her one of the more popular players in the game.
Name : Venus Williams
Profession : Tennis Player
Date of Birth : June 17, 1980
Place of Birth : Lynwood, California, USA
Plays : Right-handed
Career Titles : 25
Biography
Venus started playing tennis at 4 1/2 years of age on neighborhood courts, with her father Richard. She was and has been since then in love with the game and would just play for hours crying when her dad would make her stop. She turned pro on 31st october 1994. At Oakland, (California), she causes sensation by beating Shaun Stafford, 58th WTA player, and above all, leading 6/3 3/0 versus Arantxa Sanchez (WTA number 2).Then Venus limited her appearances on WTA tour. She was shielded by her father, who did not want her to get early worn-out. She was continuing her studies, and she got diplomate in 1997. This was the year of her first great results on the WTA Tour. In fact, Venus beginning the year 1997 with two great performances : - At Indian Wells (for her 10th professional tournament), as a wildcard in qualifying ranked No. 211, she won two matches to qualify for the main draw and then collected her first win over a Top 10 player, upsetting No. 9 Iva Majoli to reach the quarterfinals; in quarters, she stretched No. 8 and eventual champion Lindsay Davenport to a third-set tie-break before falling (score : 6/4 5/7 7/6); her ranking jumped 101 spots to a then-career high No. 110; she also reached doubles quarterfinals as a wildcard team with sister, Serena, upsetting eighth seeds Conchita Martinez and Patricia Tarabini in the first round. - At Lipton, after being led 1-5 in the first set, Venus defeated No. 28 Jennifer Capriati 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the third round before falling to eventual winner Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-2 (after holding a 3-0 lead). Moreover, the other summer tournaments were not better for Venus (new loss versus Nathalie Tauziat at Eastbourne en 1/8th , losses at the same level against Martina Hingis (6/2 6/1) at San Diego and against Anke Huber (7/6 ; 6/4) at Los Angeles, defeat versus Nathalie Dechy at Toronto first round). She makes some great performances : 6/3 6/4 victory versus Anke Huber (n? seeded), 7/5 7/5 win versus Sandrine Testud, and moreover, dramatic 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), victory over No. 11 Irina Spirlea at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Venus saved two matchpoints and went through. The first matchpoint was saved by a foolish backhand passing-shot ! Venus becomes the first unseeded woman to make a U.S. Open singles final. In the following she beats the WTA no1 Martina Hingis at Sydney, then steps to the final (defeated by Arantxa Sanchez). She gets to the Australian Open quarterfinals, and wins the first set versus Lindsay Davenport (in 18 minutes). A few weeks later at Oklahoma city, she beats her compatriot (6/7 ; 6/2 ; 6/3) for the fisrt time, and wins her first singles title (and her first doubles title too, with sister Serena). At 1998 Lipton, one year after being dominated by Martina Hingis, she won the title, beating her in the semis (6/2 ; 5/7 ; 6/2). It was her first major title on the WTA tour. In 2000, Venus entered the top players in history club after winning two consecutive grand slams (Wimbledon and the US Open) in a 26 winning match streak. She followed up with an incredible performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics winning both singles and doubles.
