Calm after the storm -- Anna, Pavel taciturn on marriage

Calm after the storm -- Anna, Pavel taciturn on marriage

MIAMI, MAR 1: From Soho to South Beach to Scottsdale, the engagement of Anna Kournikova and Pavel Bure created a buzz worthy of two international sports celebrities.

In South Florida, following practice with the National hockey league's Florida Panthers, Bure was confronted by TV cameras and reporters asking whether the news was true. ``Maybe, yeah,'' the media-shy Bure said. ``We'll discuss details when she gets back.''

In Scottsdale, Arizona, Kournikova wasn't confirming or denying anything after she won her first round match at the State Farm Women's Classic WTA tournament. ``I'm going to answer this only once,'' she said. ``I do not have any details right now for you. As soon as I will be ready, I will let you know everything.''

According to witnesses, Bure proposed to Kournikova on Friday at the Forge, his favourite restaurant in trendy South Beach. Free-lance photographer Manny Hernandez shot the couple cuddling at their table.

``They were happy,'' Hernandez said. ``Usually, she's very private and doesn't like any pictures. I just happened to be there, and there were other people with point-and-shoot cameras who were taking pictures, too.''

Shareef Malnik, owner of the Forge, said he toasted the engagement with Bure and Kournikova on Friday night, the Miami Herald reported.

Kournikova, 18, and Bure, 28, are neighbours in a South Beach high-rise condo and have dated for months. A Panthers charity auction offering dinner with the couple sold earlier this month for $<\!q>12,500. She attends Panthers games, and he plans to watch her play in the Ericsson Open in late March in Key Biscayne.

Kournikova, ranked 10th, has yet to win a tournament on the WTA Tour. But her sex appeal has changed the image of the women's game, and she rivals fellow teenagers Martina Hingis and the Williams sisters in popularity.

Bure, nicknamed the `Russian Rocket', is pretty photogenic himself. He's also the NHL's leading scorer with 43 goals. Bure's former teammate in junior hockey, Detroit Redwings center Sergei Fedorov dated Kournikova for more than two years and was with her at Wimbledon last year. She has also been romantically linked to tennis players Nicolas Lapentti and Mark Knowles.