Anna Kournikova: lost her cool in a BBC interview

Despite the assistance of her legions of male adorers, "Anna K", as they like to call her, could not find the consistency to beat fellow Russian Tatiana Panova.

Asked in a post-match interview whether her confidence was low, the 21-year-old Russian player became angry, petulantly walking towards the camera, asking if she could begin the interview again.

Then she sulkily agreed to talk on condition that the interviewer focused his questions on the match and not on her form.

John Lloyd, the former British number one and now BBC analyst, described her behaviour as "pathetic".

He said: "Those were reasonable questions. If she's sensitive she has got to accept that this is the pressure and the nature of the sport she is in. After all she has made millions from it."

Pam Shriver, a former Wimbledon doubles champion agreed, adding that Kournikova's attitude was "horrible". She said: "If you talk to people in the locker room, they will tell you that that is the real Anna Kournikova."

She may never have won a tennis tournament in her seven-year career but her status as the undisputed pin-up of the sport had never been in doubt until now.

An admiring Wimbledon crowd have found a new sweetheart, Daniela Hantuchova.

The 19-year-old Slovakian, the number 11 seed, has already sent a flutter through this year's tournament, drawing the kind of cheers and applause usually reserved for one of Kournikova's coquettish, crowd-pleasing smiles.

Hantuchova was intent on impressing more than just the teenage boys who gathered to watch - making serene progress into the second round in straight sets.

However, Kournikova's defeat provided further ammunition to the growing number of critics who wonder if the estimated £25 million she has made from commercial activities are dimming her appetite for the game.

Chris Evert, herself a former glamour girl but also the winner of three Wimbledon singles titles, said before the tournament that she feared the attention surrounding Kournikova was coming close to destroying her.

"She has to start taking responsibility for her tennis career. If she wants to make a success of it she has got to get hungry and put tennis ahead of making videos and posing for magazine covers.

"I don't think anybody knows what her priorities are. Is it to be famous or to make a lot of money or to be beautiful or to be a really great tennis player?"

Hantuchova, winner of the Wimbledon mixed doubles last year, is already being feted for her looks, having been voted this year's "Sexiest Woman in Tennis" by Ace magazine, an accolade which has caused her to be showered with endorsement offers.

However, unlike Kournikova, herself a former winner of that title, Hantuchova, who took up tennis with the encouragement of her grandmother, one of Slovakia's top players, is determined that her head will not be turned by all the attention.

While the boys cheered the longest legs in lawn tennis (44 inches) Hantuchova, who has already beaten Martina Hingis this year, concentrated on the bread-and-butter business of winning her match, which she did 6-3, 6-2.

"I'm glad people talk a lot about my tennis. I'm trying to focus on the tennis. That is the important thing.

"People who come to tennis don't just want to see a good game, they want to see a good show, good entertainment."