Daniela Hantuchová (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈdanɪjɛla ˈɦantuxɔvaː]; 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 Navratilova, who was her doubles partner for a brief period in early 2005. As of July 06, 2009, Hantuchová is ranked World No. 27 in singles and ranked World No. 19 in doubles.
Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist and mother Marianna, a toxicologist. Her tour debut and early results were auspicious. Her performance temporarily dipped, 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. She suffered from weight problem during this period. She was also suspected of being anorexic, however Hantuchová denied this.
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.
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