Daniela Hantuchová

Daniela Hantuchova (born April 23, 1983) is a former Slovak professional tennis player. In May 2016, she was ranked World No. 170 in women's singles tennis and 179th in doubles. In 2008, she reached the Australian Open semi-finals. She has been ranked as 5th in the world for both women's singles and doubles. She played tennis for Slovakia in an international competition called the Fed Cup, and also in the Olympic Games.
She retired from professional tennis in July 2017. She has worked with coaches from the Sanchez-Casal Academy, namely Angel Gimenez and Eduardo Nicolas. Her Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour mentor, Martina Navratilova, was also her doubles partner in early 2004. Outside tennis, she has modeled clothes and has been in some television advertisements.
After her retirement, she became a tennis commentator. In 2018, she was a commentator for Amazon Prime's coverage of the 2018 US Open. In 2020, she started a podcast called "The Real DNA".
Personal life
Hantuchova's parents are both scientists. Her father, Igor Hantucha, is a computer science professor. Her mother, Mariane Hantuchova, is a toxicologist. Daniela was taught to play tennis by her grandmother, Helena, when she was six years old. Helena used to be a Slovakian national champion. Even though Daniela practiced a lot at tennis, she studied hard at school as well.
Hantuchova's parents were divorced in 2003. At the same time Hantuchova lost weight, and people became worried she was ill with anorexia. She said "I have proved that physically I don't have any problems."
Hantuchova speaks three languages (German, Slovak, and English), and can play the piano. She has several hobbies, such as skiing and ice skating. She has been in several advertisements on television, such as the campaign for Sony with Ana Ivanovic in July 2006. Hantuchova has also been in Italian Vogue magazine, as a model. She now lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Playing style
Hantuchova holds her racquet in her right hand, but uses both hands when playing backhand shots. She can hit the ball hard with both her forehand and backhand. She has a strong serve and can play well when close to the net. She is famous for her long legs which are long. Because she is so tall (), she can run a long way in a short amount of time, which also helps in returning shots, also adding power.
Professional career
Hantuchova became a professional tennis player in 1989, when she was 15 years old. She started training in Florida, but still went back to Bratislava, Slovakia, to study. She won her first WTA tournament in 2000, a doubles title which she won in Bratislava. In 2001, she played her first Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open. Hantuchova lost in her first match in Australia to Russian player Anna Kournikova. However, she won the mixed doubles tournament, playing with Czech player Leos Friedl. Hantuchova won her second WTA doubles competition by winning with Russian player Elena Bovina in Luxembourg. She finished the year in the top 100, and was given an award by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for being the best new player in 2001.
In 2002, Hantuchova lost in the quarter-final of both the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open. However, playing with Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett, she won the mixed doubles at the Australian Open. She also came second in the doubles in Australia, playing with Spanish player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. She and Ullyett lost the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon in the same season. She did win her first singles WTA tournament, beating Swiss player Martina Hingis at the Masters tournament at Indian Wells in California. She also won two more WTA doubles tournaments, in Florida and Connecticut in the United States. Both times she won with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Hantuchova finished the season in the top 10, and was given an award for being the most improved player in 2002 by the WTA. In January 2003, Hantuchova was the fifth best female tennis player in the world. As of June 2008, this is the best she has done. Later in 2003, she split up from her English coach, Nigel Sears.
Sears coached Hantuchova again in 2004 and in 2005, where she won the mixed doubles at the French Open and the US Open. This means she had won all four Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments. In June 2005, she and Japanese player Ai Sugiyama won a WTA tour doubles tournament in Birmingham, England. The same pair came second in the doubles final at the French Open. Hantuchova won her sixth WTA doubles title with Russian player Anastasia Myskina in Germany in October 2004.
Hantuchova and Sugiyama won another doubles tournament in March 2006, this time in Doha, Qatar. Hantuchova finally split up with her coach, Sears, for good in April 2006. She went on to win her eighth WTA doubles tournament in May 2006 in Rome, Italy, again with Ai Sugiyama. Hantuchova won her second singles match WTA Tour title in March 2007, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova at Indian Wells again. She then won her third singles Tour title in October 2007, beating Swiss player Patty Schnyder in Linz in Austria. Hantuchova lost in the semi-final of the 2008 Australian Open to Serbian player Ana Ivanovic. She also lost in the second round at Wimbledon in June 2008. Since the semi-final appearance, Hantuchova has failed to make it beyond the fourth round in any of the Grand Slam tournaments.
Hantuchova also played tennis for Slovakia in an international tennis competition called the Fed Cup. She played 58 matches and won 38 of them. She helped Slovakia win the Fed Cup in 2002. In 2004, she played for Slovakia in the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. She was sponsored by sportswear company Nike and racquet manufacturer Prince.
On July 6, 2017, Hantuchova announced that she was going to retire from playing tennis professionally. Over her career, she won more than $10.4 million from playing tennis. She is the first Slovak woman to win this much money just from tennis tournaments.
Career statistics
Grand Slam tournaments
Year-end championships
Grand Slam doubles finals: 3 (3 runners-up)
Mixed doubles finals: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)
By winning the 2005 US Open title, Hantuchova completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam. She became only the fifth female player in history to achieve this.