Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova smiles during her shoot for promoting Thailand as a tourist destination at Pattaya beach, south east of Thailand. Kournikova is refusing to quit tennis despite a back injury. [AFP]

Anna Kournikova said she was refusing to write off her career despite a chronic back injury which has blighted her recent performances.

The glamour girl of tennis, still only 22, claimed just one victory on the WTA Tour during the 2003 season, beating Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova in the first round of the Australian Open in January.

She then played one match on home ground in Miami, lost in the first round in Sarasota and retired during her first round match at Amelia Island the following week.

Even stepping down to an ITF Challenger event in May in the search for an elusive victory proved unsuccessful, as she eventually retired during her semi-final. That was the last official match she played.

"I still love tennis and want to play, but I have a chronic back condition which makes it impossible to play more than week at a time," said Kournikova Sunday after competing in an exhibition match against Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in Pattaya.

Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova autographs a ball for children at a hospital in Pattaya, 150 kms east of Bangkok, November 8, 2003. Kournikova is on a three-day promotional visit to Thailand. [Reuters]

"As an athlete you must expect injuries and you have to learn how to deal with it, but it is very frustrating. But I really enjoyed playing against Tammy."

Kournikova still keeps in shape and showed plenty of the skills that once earned her victories over Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis, and took her to the Wimbledon semi-finals. And she is so keen to play regularly again that she is even considering surgery.

"That is one of the options I'm looking at," she revealed. "I hate needles, but I have to look at everything."

And she discounts the constant reports that she is much more interested in an acting career than returning to the tennis arena.

"When there is no information about me there will always be rumours," she said. "I should hold up a sign. My number one priority is tennis. That's what I want to do, far above anything else.

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