Kournikova, a humanitarian at heart

http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1004/kournikova_a_humanitarian_at_heart.html

April 6, 2010

Kournikova, a humanitarian at heart

By: Patrick Gavin

The former pro tennis player is active in the humanitarian aid community, doing work in Haiti and Russia.

In a town filled with politicos, this month's Capitol File cover girl — former pro tennis player and model Anna Kournikova — is anything but a wonk. Yet Kournikova isn’t totally removed from our world of nonprofits and charities: She’s active in the humanitarian aid community, doing work in Haiti and Russia, her birth country.

On Wednesday, Kournikova will head to D.C. for a party at Oya celebrating her magazine cover.

The first thing Kournikova wanted to know about her upcoming visit?

"How's the weather?"

"Good!" POLITICO replied. "But how good? What's the temperature?" she pressed. Once Kournikova, who talked to us from Miami, was assured that D.C. would be sufficiently temperate, we were able to pick her brain on several topics.

On President Obama's seeming to prefer basketball to her cherished sport of tennis: "That's great! As long as our president emphasizes sports and plays any kind of sport — whether it's soccer or it's basketball — that's great. Obviously, it would be amazing if it were tennis, but whatever sport it is ..."