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Cape Town - A Russian tennis beauty dubbed 'the next Anna Kournikova" has died on the practice court.
According to the Stuff website, Violetta Degtiareva died on January 12 of reported heart failure.
News of her death was not immediately released and only became public when her close friend and fellow tennis player Anastasia Vdovenco, 20, posted it on Facebook, where it was picked up by Russian media."I can hardly believe it. Rest in peace," Vdovenco, 20, wrote.
Like Kournikova, who dominated the game in the late 1990s and early 2000s more with her looks than her results, Degtiareva's beauty attracted as much attention as her game.
Her singles ranking with the Women's Tennis Association was a low 1 086 and her doubles ranking 905 at the time of her death.
Her last tournament was a quarter-final finish at an ITF event in Turkey in November.
Tennis star hailed next Anna Kournikova dead at 23 http://t.co/jjjPDVkI3F pic.twitter.com/vZ5PWsKkJK
— India Today (@IndiaToday) January 22, 2015#RIP Talented tennis player Violetta Degtiareva drops dead at age 23: http://t.co/z5Na9ChIp3 pic.twitter.com/trlS1FtC0Z
— In Touch Weekly (@intouchweekly) January 22, 2015@rudorivera tenista rusa Violetta Degtiareva, de 23 años , muere víctima de un paro cardíaco en un entrenamiento pic.twitter.com/5D0kkVaxML
— gabriel f. cordero (@gabrielfcordero) January 14, 2015
