Danica or Anna: Who’s more Overrated?

May 26, 2009

OK, sports fans. Here’s a question to ponder while you’re eating lunch.. Danica Patrick or Anna Kournikova? The fiery car-racing goddess or the tennis-playing siren? For those of you who think I’m going somewhere else with this, get your minds out of the gutter. Yeah, they’re both beautiful, and combined, they’ve graced more magazine covers than the average supermodel. They’ve also made tons more money off the playing field than on it, which is highly commendable. But I digress. The real question is this: Which of these divas has been more of a disappointment to their respective sports, Danica or Anna?

Let’s first take a look at Kournikova’s portfolio. She came to the United States from Russia at a young age and trained with noted coach Nick Bollettieri. She won some prestigious junior tournaments and made her pro debut at 14. Two years later Kournikova reached the semifinals at Wimbledon as a 16-year-old, and it looked as if her career was going to take off. It didn’t. She won a couple of Australian Open doubles titles with Martina Hingis. Kournikova climbed as high as No. 8 in the singles rankings but never fulfilled the potential people felt she had. She made headlines for who she was dating and was featured on magazine covers. By 2003 injuries forced her into semiretirement, and she never won a Women’s Tennis Association tour singles event in 130 tries.

As for Patrick, she burst onto the racing scene as a 23-year-old when she qualified fourth for the Indianapolis 500 and went on to finish fourth in the race. Later that season she won her first pole position. Patrick showed she could drive just as fast as the guys during qualifying, but winning a race was another story until 2008, when Patrick won at Twin Ring Motegi in the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race. Unlike the tennis player, Patrick does seem to possess a strong desire to win, and she’s not afraid to get in the face of a fellow driver when she believes she was not treated fairly on the track.The difference between her and Kournikova is this: Patrick’s won, and she’s had more overall success than Kournikova did in her sport. Citizen-Times

I am leaning toward Anna as more overrated in her respective sport. Looks wise, Danica can’t even compete. -TO