The Tennis Pro in Playboy, Can't Play

    With an interview about it on our website here, Ashley Harkleroad's celebrated debut as the first professional tennis player ever to pose for Playboy is still on newsstands everywhere,. Our interview with the transplanted Georgia native from Manhattan Beach, included her indignity at my not knowing she had actually been in the top 50 rankings at some point, even though at #72 right now, she's enjoying one of the highest rankings of her career. That was part of when I asked her if she's concerned about becoming like Anna Kournikova, famous for her pictures, but never winning a tournament. Harkleroad responded she'd love to have a career like Kournikova, who rose as high as #9 in the rankings. And she's right. And she will never come close to that kind of recognition for her game. You never heard of her before she... [read full story]