Daniela Hantuchova
Daniela Hantuchova
Daniela Hantuchováis a Slovak tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA tournament, the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Martina Hingis in the final and becoming the lowest-ranked player to ever win the tournament. She also reached the quarterfinals of that year's Wimbledon Championship and US Open, ending the year in the top 10. She was part of the Slovak team that won the 2002 Fed Cup and the...
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth23 April 1983
CityPoprad, Slovakia
I've been playing really well the whole summer and it's very satisfying to start a tournament like this, ... I missed a few opportunities early in the first set but I just kept going for my shots and tried to stay calm and believe in what I was doing. She serves hard but I felt I was in control and it was just a matter of time.
Especially against players like Lindsay, I just can?t afford not to take those chances,
I was playing well in the first set, then for some reason I decided to make it difficult for myself in the second set. I was able to get back in form and win it. The conditions were very hot but it was the same for both of us.
I was very pleased with the way I played today because Lisa is very tough to play indoors,
Well, I like to - the game of serve and volley, but it's very tough, you know, against the best players because they return so good and their passing shots are really good. So it's really tough to get there with those players.
So many times in my matches, especially when I was coming up and I was really, really young and not having the experience, I was sometimes beating myself and not really playing the opponent.
She came out playing unbelievable. I don?t think there was much I could have done about that.
She proved she really deserves to be one of the best players in the world. She's just playing unbelievable tennis.
She is a dangerous player and also very experienced.
It was a great time here in the States this year, and definitely I feel like I'm playing well again. I gained a lot of confidence in the last couple of weeks, and I just have to, you know, keep going and keep the momentum now.
It means a lot. Finally I can say that I'm able to play and beat anyone, and it just gives me so much confidence. I had so many matches like this where I was really close to beating the top players and finally I did it today. I'm just really extremely happy about that.
I mean, it's been quite busy, especially with the rain delay the first few days, and then having to play the late evenings, waiting here every day. It's been kind of difficult.
I mean, every single time I was there with Mahesh, I just tried to learn something of his game, because he's, you know, one of the best doubles players that's been around ever.
I started when I was six years old. My first coach was my granny, she was the best player in Slovakia.