What happened with Anna Kournikova and Pavel Bure? Tennis star was engaged to hockey player before marrying Enrique Iglesias

Former tennis player Anna Kournikova, who was previously linked to one-time NHL star Pavel Bure and is now married to Enrique Iglesias. Tennis star is reported to be expecting her fourth child with the singer. According to The Independent, Pavel Bure and Anna Kournikova were linked in the late 1990s, and were rumored to be briefly engaged in the early 2000s. At that time, Pavel Bure, who was a star hockey player, had reportedly proposed to Kournikova at a restaurant.

Soon after news of their engagement surfaced, the couple received widespread media coverage, including reports in a Russian newspaper that were later disputed. The pair eventually called off their engagement, which was never confirmed by either party in the first place. While allegedly involved with Pavel Bure, Kournikova was also reportedly briefly married to his teammate, Sergei Fedorov.

More about Pavel Bure and Anna Kournikova relationship, as former tennis player welcomes fourth child with Enrique Iglesias

Pavel Bure was a rising NHL player when he was linked to Anna Kournikova, who was just eighteen years old at the time of their relationship. According to ESPN, it was the year 2000 when Pavel Bure and Kournikova were reported to be in a relationship. The couple were also reported to be living together in a high-rise condo in Miami. They were rumored to be engaged after a few months of dating, when the former Florida Panthers player proposed to Anna Kournikova at a restaurant.

Pavel Bure and Anna Kournikova were dining at The Forge, a restaurant on Arthur Godfrey Road in Miami Beach, Florida, when Bure proposed to Kournikova in front of other diners. Pictures of the couple were taken by photographer Manny Hernandez, who recalled the moment, saying:

"They were happy 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."

When asked about marriage plans, Bure said:

"Maybe, yeah. We'll discuss details when she gets back."

On the other hand, Kournikova said:

"I'm going to answer this only once. 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 ABC News, it was later reported that Anna Kournikova, who was previously engaged to Sergei Fedorov, had in fact been married to him while being rumored to be engaged to Bure. In 2003, Fedorov later confirmed that the couple were briefly married before divorcing, a claim Kournikova has long denied. He said:

"They are true. We were married, albeit briefly, and we are now divorced. I still don't know what it was. I read only in magazines what was going on and I basically tried to break up. But she had an explanation and I really believed that it was true and I, sort of... we patched things up."

However, back in 2001, Kournikova’s representative had already denied the rumors of her marriage to Fedorov, stating:

"No, it's not true. She's not married"

Month later, following the Russian newspaper eXile, Bure released a statement saying marriage was no longer on his radar. He said:

"A wedding isn't entering into my plans just yet. Today I love hockey more than anything else."

According to The Independent, Anna Kournikova, on the other hand, denied ever being engaged to Bure. She said:

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"I never said I was engaged or was planning to get married, because I have no such plans. It is hard for me to understand that some people believe everything they see in the media, and I should have said something sooner."

Pavel Bure had later sued the newspaper for publishing falsified information about the couple. After her relationship with Bure and Sergei Fedorov ended, Anna Kournikova was linked to Enrique Iglesias. According to People magazine, the couple met in 2001 while shooting a music video for his song “Escape.” Kournikova and Iglesias, who have maintained privacy about their relationship, have three children and are expecting a fourth.

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