Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová born April 23, 1983 is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top ten.
She is currently coached by Albert Portas. Her WTA Tour mentor in the "Partners for Success" program was Martina Navrátilová, who was her doubles partner for a brief period in early 2005. As of August 24, 2009, Hantuchová is ranked World No. 23 in singles and ranked World No. 18 in doubles.
Daniela Hantuchová Personal life
Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist and mother Marianna, a toxicologist. Hantuchová's performances temporarily worsened, as a result of her parents splitting up in 2003. At the Wimbledon that year, she lost to the 81st ranked player in the world, failing to convert match points and weeping on court.[citation needed] She also suffered from weight problem during this period. She was suspected of being anorexic, however Hantuchová denied this.
Daniela Hantuchová speaks six languages and was trained as a classical pianist. She is thought to be a perfectionist and places a lot of pressure on herself during her training. She qualified for university in Slovakia but deferred it to pursue tennis.
She appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition alongside Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin in a pictoral entitled Volley of the Dolls.
Video games
Daniela Hantuchová has been in many sports/tennis related video games with such players as Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova. Some of the titles are Top Spin (both Xbox and Play Station 2 versions), Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 and Virtua Tennis 3. Hantuchová is currently ranked third behind Serena Williams and Ana Ivanović in a poll for new downloadable players for Top Spin 3. Daniela Hantuchová will be a playable character in the upcoming Virtua Tennis 2009.
