Daniela Hantuchova Awards
Daniela Hantuchová (born April 23, 1983 in Poprad, Slovakia) is a Slovak professional tennis player. The Englishman Nigel Sears has twice been her coach. She is currently working with a number of coaches who work under the Sanchez-Casal Academy. 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 30 October 2006 she is ranked #17 in the world in singles and #13 in the world in doubles.
Hantuchová has won one WTA singles tournament in her career, in 2002 at the Tier I Pacific Life Open, defeating Martina Hingis 6-3 6-4 in the final. She has reached four other finals in her career—(Filderstadt 2002 losing to Kim Clijsters, Eastbourne 2004 losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova, Los Angeles 2005 where she lost to Clijsters again, and 2006 Zurich open, losing to Maria Sharapova in 3 sets), but has yet to win a second singles title.
She made her breakthrough in 2002 beating top 10 players Justine Henin-Hardenne in the fourth round and Martina Hingis in the final at Indian Wells. Winning the title catapulted her onto the world stage, with Ace Tennis Magazine even touting her as being the next contender for the Williams sisters' throne. In the same year, she reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the US Open (losing to Serena Williams both times). She also reached the quarterfinals at the following year's Australian Open (losing to Venus Williams). She also reached the final of Filderstadt but lost to Kim Clijsters in the final and even though Hantuchová was unable to add another singles title to the one at Indian Wells, consistent performances enabled her to reach a career high of #5 in the world (she was the first ever Slovak woman to reach this level).
At Wimbledon 2003, however, Hantuchová suffered the most public of breakdowns during her match with Shinobu Asagoe in the second round. She lost the match 10-12 in the final set and was seen crying between points as early as the 14th game. She continued to cry after the match, and suffered a sudden dip in her form in subsequent matches. She also suffered significant weight loss during 2003 and into 2004. Her breakdown at Wimbledon was widely believed to be due to not being able to deal with such high hopes at such a young age.
In 2006, Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals of Sydney with a win over top 10 player Patty Schnyder and the semifinals of Auckland, as well as shocking the tennis world at the Australian Open with her 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over defending champion and seven-time Grand Slam tournament champion Serena Williams, before losing to 4th-seeded Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Since then, she has been unable to find a consistent level of form, though she reached the fourth-round at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. However, her fourth-round streak ended when she was beaten by a resurgent Serena Williams at the second round of the US Open. Hantuchová showed what she is capable of producing the week before Stuttgart beating an inform Tatiana Golovin in straight sets before losing out to Dianra Safina. The following week Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals of Stuttgart with an easy victory over top 10 player Dinara Safina in the 2nd round, the same player to whom she had lost convincingly the previous week. This was her first top 10 defeat since January. In October 2006, Hantuchová reached the final of the Zurich Open. In the first round, she upset 6th seed Patty Schnyder. In the second round, she defeated her doubles parter Ai Sugiyama. Daniela was then scheduled to play World No.1 Amelie Mauresmo in the quarter finals. However, Mauresmo withdrew due to a right shoulder injury. In the semi finals, Daniela upset World No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 6-2 to reach the final of the Tier I event. In the final, Daniela lost in a tight 3 setter to 2nd seed Maria Sharapova. Sharapova winning 6-1 4-6 6-3. The weeks on the tour leading up to this tournament were the culmination of Hantuchová's turn up in form which propelled her back into the worlds top 20 after a brief period outside the top group. But the injury she suffered to her right rib after Mary Pierce hit a shot at her in doubles caused her undoubtedly her most serious injury of her career and also to retire in her match against Vesnina in Linz.
Country: Slovakia Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 5' 11 ľ'' (181 cm) Weight: 123 lb (56 kg) Plays: Right Turned pro: May 1999 Highest singles ranking: 5 (January 27, 2003) Highest doubles ranking: 5 (August 26, 2003 and June 12, 2006-July 10, 2006) Singles titles: 1 Doubles titles: 8 Career Prize Money: $4,101,909 Grand Slam Record Australian Open QF (2003) French Open 4th (2002, 2006) Wimbledon QF (2002) U.S. Open QF (2002)
