BBC News | TENNIS | Ice ace nets Kournikova

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Tuesday, 29 February, 2000, 02:42 GMT

Ice ace nets Kournikova

Russian tennis sensation Anna Kournikova is to wed ice hockey star Pavel Bure after he proposed to her in Miami, newspapers have reported.

National Hockey League idol Pavel Bure said he popped the question on Friday night at a Miami Beach restaurant.

"We'll tell details when she gets back in town in the middle of March," Bure said before the Florida Panthers' game against Buffalo.

Kournikova was photographed with Bure holding a pink rose and according to the Sun he proposed on bended knee in front of stunned diners.

Kournikova, 18, and Bure, 28, are neighbours in an apartment building in south Miami Beach.

The teenager was first paired with the hockey star, an ex-team mate of her former boyfriend Sergei Fedorov, in December.

But in January newspapers linked her with Mark Philippoussis after she was seen cheering on the home favourite at the Australian Open. Both insisted they were just friends.

Kournikova's pin-up looks have made her a media favourite around the world, even though her on-court performances have failed to take her into the game's elite.

Bure, known as the Russian Rocket, plays for the Florida Panthers and won the most valuable player award during the 50th National Hockey League All-Star game in February.

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