Now Fans Can Get a Piece of Teen Idol Kournikova’s Dress

PARIS —  Anna Kournikova, the most glamorous player in women’s tennis, has had endorsements since she was a child. Now fans at the French Open can get a part of her for free.

Or, at least a part of her dress. Adidas-Salomon AG, which fitted the 18-year-old Russian in her new gold-colored tennis outfit, is giving away snippets of Kournikova’s dress at a stand that’s proving to be one of the main attractions of this year’s French Open.

While Kournikova is 20th in the world rankings, she’s No. 1 with the young tennis fans who’ve been waiting to pick up a free glass key ring that contains a tiny bit of what Adidas says is a dress worn by Kournikova.

“She’s really cute, but I like her because she’s a great player too,” said 15-year-old admirer Sebastien Goncalves, clutching one of the last key rings that were handed out before stocks were depleted.

There’ll be more available over the coming days, though, according to Cedric Dufoix, one of Adidas’s French communications managers, who said that the company had been taken aback by the demand.

“The key rings have been going like the proverbial hot cakes,” Dufoix said. “We’re having to get more in to cope with the demand.”

Those missing out Thursday were given posters of Kournikova in her new dress instead.

The company expects to distribute 150,000 key rings during the two weeks of the tournament, as well as 250,000 posters, Dufoix said. He didn’t know how many dresses would have to be cut up to satisfy the largely teen-age fan base.

If Kournikova is a big hit in the commercial stakes, it’s certainly not due to luck. She was signed by International Management Group, the U.S. sports marketing firm, as a child, and began endorsing Adidas around the same time. She dropped IMG in September for Advantage International.

Adidas, like its competitors in the sportswear market, has been investing in young players for a long time in the hope that one, or some, of them make it as top professionals. She’s under contract with Adidas until 2001, said Patrik Nilsson, a spokesman for Adidas’s global marketing department.

Kournikova, who’s now based in Miami, Florida, moved at the age of nine from Moscow to join the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in the U.S. She won her first professional tournament in 1996, reached the Wimbledon semifinals in her first appearance in 1997 and broke into the world’s top 10 last year before slipping back.

Her long, blond hair and good looks were attracting as much media attention as her tennis by then, and she was named to People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list for 1998.

Her friendship with National Hockey League star Sergei Fedorov, 11 years her senior, also sent her from sports pages to the lifestyles sections.

She tries to divert attention back to tennis, though, during press conferences at the French Open.

“The only people who worry about this glamour thing is you guys,” she told a predominantly male group of reporters. “I’m just trying to concentrate on tennis and practice and playing.”

Dufoix said a television-and-billboards publicity campaign that was launched this week was to promote the dress, not Kournikova, though it was also about giving tennis a fresh image.

Women’s tennis is having a renaissance of popularity thanks to such teen-age players as world No. 1 Martina Hingis and sisters Venus and Serena Williams.

“The women’s game is like a soap opera at the moment,” Nilsson said. “It has the characters that are missing on the men’s side right now.”

Not everyone at Roland Garros was caught up with the commotion around Kournikova and her key rings.

“I’m not sure sex appeal should be used to promote sport,” said Parisian mother Sylvie Duforge, while her two teen-age daughters waited in line for posters.

Young fans don’t see a problem.

“What’s wrong with being young and beautiful?” asked 13-year-old Karine Gaultier. “Kournikova’s cool and she plays well, too.”

Kournikova said if the key rings, posters and publicity campaigns brought new people to tennis, it was fine by her.

“The glamour brought some different fans,” she said. “I guess the physique will bring some different fans too.”