Talented Russian tennis player Violetta Degtiareva, dubbed "the next Anna Kournikova", for her glamorous looks and playing skills, has died of reported heart failure, according to media reports.
She is believed to have died Jan 12. But the news of her death was not revealed and was only known to the public Wednesday after her friend and tennis player Anastasia Vdovenco posted her shocked reaction on Facebook.
"I can hardly believe it. Rest in peace," the 20-year-old wrote on Facebook Wednesday.
Detailed reports of Degtiareva's cardiac arrest are still unknown and according to Russian media reports it was not specified where she was training before she fell dead.
The most notable career moment for the late 23-year-old came when she reached the quarter-finals of the ITF-Turnier pro-circuit tournament in Turkey last year.