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Ashley Harkleroad Biography

Tennis Player

Tennis pro Ashley Harkleroad made a splash at age 16 when she appeared at the 2001 U.S. Open in extra-tight shorts and a midriff-baring top. She lost in the first round, but the outfit and her long blonde ponytail earned her comparisons to another tennis heartthrob, Anna Kournikova. Earlier the same year she had teamed with Argentina's Gisella Dulko to win the girls' doubles title at Wimbledon. In both 2000 and 2001 she reached the #1 ranking in U.S. women's 18-and-under tennis, but by 2006 she had fallen in the world adult rankings considerably, with 39th being her highest career rank. She has persevered as a reliable player, and in 2008 won two singles matches to lead the American team to a first-round victory over Germany in the Federation Cup.

Extra credit: Harkleroad turned pro in the year 2000... In 2001 she signed a contract with shoemaker Nike... She married fellow tennis pro Alex Bogomolov, Jr. in 2004, when she was 19 and he was 21. They divorced in 2006... Harkleroad appeared in the August, 2008 edition of Playboy magazine.

Other tennis stars of her era include Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.