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Thursday, April 4, 2002
Updated: April 6, 5:58 PM ET
 Let the skirts fly: Anna vs. Marilyn
Page 2 staff

 Say what you will about Anna Kournikova's tennis game (and Page 2 certainly will), but the woman certainly knows how to turn heads off the court.

The Russian tennis star recently filmed a commercial for a shoe company in which she pays homage to movie legend Marilyn Monroe and the famous scene in "The Seven-Year Itch," where Monroe's skirt is lifted by a rush of wind from a New York City subway vent.

With Kournikova cheekily staking out sacred territory, Page 2 decided to see how these two blonde bombshells ... uh, stack up.

MARILYN VS. ANNA
Category  
Marilyn		  
Anna
Could be overwhelmed by ...   Any older man who wanted to "take care of her"   Any player ranked in the top 100
Hated comparisons to ...   Betty Grable   Zippy Chippy
Photo of her wind-blown skirt enraged ...   Joe DiMaggio   Enrique Iglesias and half the NHL
The Seven-Year Itch was ...   One of her best films   A reminder that she turned pro at the end of 1995 ... you do the math
Breakthrough role   "All About Eve"   All about getting out of the first round
Vital stats   37-23-36 -- or so the studio claimed   $15 million in endorsements per year -- and even more downloads
Couldn't go on without ...   Her acting coach, Natasha Lytess   The Internet
Her father   Identity was unknown   Ironically, is named Sergei
Her childhood   Spent mostly in foster homes and orphanages   Spent mostly in Nick Bolletierri's tennis academy
Was embarrassed by ...   The release of nude photos once she hit it big   WTA's insistence on keeping score
Often lost ...   Games of love   Love games
Accusations   Once accused husband Joe DiMaggio of slapping her, possibly as a way of obtaining a divorce   Once accused Pavel Bure of having a vicious slap shot, possibly as a way of making Sergei Fedorov jealous
Good memories   Greatly enjoyed getting a good night's sleep under the influence of downers   Once won a doubles title (with Martina Hingis) Down Under
Da bomb   Sang "Happy Birthday" to JFK, who threatened to bomb the Russians during Cuban Missile Crisis   Speaking of Russian bombshells ...
Disillusions   Dreamed of becoming the First Lady   Dreamed of being pretty and good at tennis
Flighty moments   Once had an affair with JFK   Once got a cheap fare out of JFK
Became an oasis for ...   Servicemen stationed abroad   Geeks using the web
Taught us that ...   "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"   Blondes prefer hockey players
Parting shots   Her last movie was "The Misfits"   Her best offensive weapon is when her opponent "mis-hits"