| | MIAMI -- From Soho to South Beach to Scottsdale, the
engagement of Anna Kournikova and Pavel Bure created a buzz Tuesday
worthy of two international sports celebrities.
|  | | He shoots, he scores: Pavel Bure, left, and Anna Kournikova are apparently Russian off to the chapel. |
The Russian couple made front-page news in Europe, with London
tabloid headlines saying "Anna nets a husband" and "Kourna is
Cornered." In South Florida, following practice with the Florida
Panthers, Bure was confronted by TV cameras and reporters asking
whether the news was true.
"Maybe, yeah," the media-shy Bure said. "We'll discuss
details when she gets back."
In Scottsdale, Ariz., Kournikova wasn't confirming or denying
anything Tuesday night after she won her first round match at the
State Farm Women's Classic WTA tournament.
"I'm going to answer this only once," she said. "I do not
have any details right now for you. As soon as I will be ready, I
will let you know everything."
According to witnesses, Bure proposed to Kournikova on Friday at
The Forge, his favorite restaurant in trendy South Beach.
Freelance photographer Manny Hernandez shot the couple cuddling at
their table.
"They were happy," Hernandez said. "Usually she's very
private and doesn't like any pictures. I just happened to be there,
and there were other people with point-and-shoot cameras who were
taking pictures too."
Shareef Malnik, owner of The Forge, said he toasted the
engagement with Bure and Kournikova on Friday night, The Miami
Herald reported.
Kournikova, 18, and Bure, 28, are neighbors in a South Beach
high-rise condo and have dated for months. A Panthers charity
auction offering dinner with the couple sold earlier this month for
$12,500. She attends Panthers games, and he plans to watch her play
in the Ericsson Open in late March on Key Biscayne.
Kournikova, ranked 10th, has yet to win a tournament on the WTA
Tour. But her sex appeal has changed the image of the women's game,
and she rivals fellow teenagers Martina Hingis and the Williams
sisters in popularity.
Bure, nicknamed the Russian Rocket, is pretty photogenic
himself. He's also the NHL's leading scorer with 43 goals.
Bure's former teammate in junior hockey, Detroit Red Wings
center Sergei Fedorov, dated Kournikova for more than two years and
was with her at Wimbledon last year. She has also been romantically
linked to tennis players Nicolas Lapentti and Mark Knowles.
Kournikova reportedly was seen kissing Australian star Mark
Philippoussis at the Australian Open in January, but she said they
were just good friends. | |
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