Sunday, November 13, 2011

Daniela Hantuchova Slovak professional tennis player

Daniela Hantuchová Slovak pronunciation; 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 Larri Passos. 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 22, 2011, Hantuchová is ranked World No. 22 in singles.

In 2005, she became the fifth female tennis player to have won the mixed doubles title in all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career.

Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist, and mother Marianna, a toxicologist.

When her parents split up in 2003, Hantuchová's performances temporarily worsened. At Wimbledon that year, she failed to convert several match points and was seen weeping on court. She also suffered from a weight problem during this period. She was suspected of being anorexic but denied this.

Hantuchová speaks three languages (Slovak, English and German), and was trained as a classical pianist. She is thought to be a perfectionist and puts a lot of pressure on herself during her training. She qualified for university in Slovakia but deferred it to pursue tennis.[citation needed]

She appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition alongside Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin in a pictoral entitled Volley of the Dolls.

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova