Posted on 06/23/2003 6:12:09 AM PDT by phasma proeliator
Anna Kournikova may not be taking part in the 2003 Wimbledon tournament but that has not dimmed her popularity online. According to figures gathered by web monitoring firm NetNames the Russian tennis star has more sites than any other player dedicated to her.
Rising star Andy Roddick currently tops the men's website rankings perhaps because of his victory at Queens in the run up to the Wimbledon championships.
Britain's Tim Henman is close behind Mr Roddick when it comes to the number of websites devoted to him.
Site seeing
On the web women's tennis is much more popular than the men's game if the range of domains dedicated to female players is any guide.
TOP 5 WOMEN
Anna Kournikova (80 sites)
Venus Williams (28 sites)
Serena Williams (19 sites)
Jelena Dokic (14 sites)
Daniela Hantuchova (11 sites)
According to NetNames there are 80 web domains celebrating Anna Kournikova. This is almost as many as the 81 for all the top ten most popular men's players.
However, NetNames notes that not all the Kournikova sites concern her prowess on the court. Some concentrate on the more glamorous side of her life and skirt the edges of decency.
Ms Kournikova's popularity may also stem from the fact that a computer virus was also named after her.
The second-most popular women's tennis star is Venus Williams who has 28 sites dedicated to her. Close behind is her sister Serena with 19 sites.
Even in third place Serena Williams outperforms the most popular male tennis player, Andy Roddick, who has only 16 websites detailing his career.
Britain's Tim Henman may not have outclassed Pete Sampras on the tennis court, but NetNames has found that he has managed to do it when it comes to websites.
TOP 5 MEN Andy Roddick (16 sites)
Tim Henman (14 sites)
Pete Sampras (10 sites)
Lleyton Hewitt (9 sites)
Andre Agassi (9 sites)
There are 14 sites about Britain's top player, but for Mr Sampras there are only ten.
One site, called mydoglookslikepetesampras, features a two-year-old Australian Kelpie called Charlie that, its owner claims, bears a striking resemblance to the tennis star.
Sadly few people share Charlies owner's belief in the similarity of looks. In all 63% of people that have completed the onsite survey do not agree that Charlie looks like Mr Sampras.
Some tennis players use a domain of their own name as an online guide to the tournaments in which they will be competing and for keeping fans informed of news.
But many other sites are run by fans detailing the ups and downs of their favourite players.
"What was particularly surprising from our research was that so few tennis players or their agents have made any effort to protect their online brand," said Jonathan Robinson, managing director of NetNames.
Tennis player? I thought she was a cowgirl.
Your right, she is a tennis player.
Number 4 Jelena Dokic
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