Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Open, 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 Championships and US Open, ending the year in the top ten. She was part of the Slovak team that won the 2002 Fed Cup and the 2005 Hopman Cup.
Hantuchová reached her highest ranking of world No. 5 in January 2003, after playing the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. She has won seven WTA Tour tournaments, including the Indian Wells Open for a second time in 2007, with the 2015 Thailand Open being her last victory. She reached the semifinals of the 2008 Australian Open, her best result in a major tournament. Her biggest career wins include victories over defending champion Serena Williams in the third round of the 2006 Australian Open and world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the third round of the 2011 French Open. Hantuchová became the 37th woman in the Open Era to reach 500 career wins when she beat Laura Robson in the second round of the 2013 Birmingham Classic on her way to the title.WTA – Maria Sharapova closing in on 500 career wins, Tennis World (13 April 2013)
She is also an accomplished doubles player, achieving a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 5. In 2005, she completed the career Grand Slam in mixed doubles, becoming only the fifth female tennis player to do so. She won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2001 with Leoš Friedl, at the Australian Open in 2002 with Kevin Ullyett, at the French Open in 2005 with Fabrice Santoro and at the US Open in 2005 with Mahesh Bhupathi. She has also reached the finals of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2002 with Ullyett and the finals of the women's doubles at the Australian Open in 2002 with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, at the French Open in 2006 with Ai Sugiyama and at the Australian Open in 2009 with Sugiyama.
Hantuchová announced her retirement from professional tennis on 6 July 2017. Since then, she has been a tennis commentator and pundit, covering tournaments such as the US Open and Wimbledon for Amazon Prime, as well as serving as a commentator for Fox Sports. Hantuchová has also produced a web series for Tennis Channel and is hosting a podcast about sports and entertainment.
Personal life Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist, and mother Marianna, a toxicologist. She was introduced to tennis by her grandmother Helena, a former Slovak national champion.
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.Alexander: Hantuchova's a beauty of a comeback story , The Press-Enterprise (13 March 2008) She also suffered from a weight problem during this period. She was suspected of being anorexic, but denied this, saying that her weight loss was due to over-training and that it had not affected her stamina.
Hantuchová speaks fluent Slovak, Czech, English and German, as well as some Croatian and Italian. She was trained as a classical pianist. She is thought to be a perfectionist and puts a lot of pressure on herself during her training. Hantuchová qualified for university in Slovakia but deferred it to pursue tennis.Daniela Hantuchova steps out of the shadows, The Sunday Times (13 July 2008)
She appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition alongside Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin in a pictorial entitled Volley of the Dolls.Golovin, Hantuchova, Kirilenko in SI swimsuit issue Tennis.com, 11 February 2009 In July 2012, she appeared nude in the 2012 edition of ESPN: The Magazines "The Body Issue". She appeared on one of six special edition covers. Though widely considered to be a "sex symbol", Hantuchová has never considered herself as such, saying that modelling is "just fun to do from time to time".
In 2017, she appeared in the Slovak dancing show Let's Dance. Her dancing partner was Erik Ňarjaš. She was eliminated in the third round.
Career 1999: Turning pro Hantuchová turned professional in this year and took part in several ITF tournaments. She won a $25k tournament in Jackson in May, beating Milagros Sequera in the final; she won a $25k doubles tournament in Civitanova Marche in July, where she teamed up with Eva Dyrberg to beat Rosa María Andrés Rodríguez and Conchita Martínez Granados in the final; and won a $25k tournament in Fano in September, beating Flora Perfetti in the final. She also entered her first WTA tournament in October, that year's Eurotel Slovak Open, losing in the singles to Sabine Appelmans in the first round. She also entered the doubles with Ľudmila Cervanová. They beat Květa Peschke and Barbara Rittner in the round of 16 and lost to Nathalie Dechy and Henrieta Nagyová in the quarterfinals.
2000: First WTA Tour quarterfinal Hantuchová's first WTA tournament of 2000 was the Australian Open, where she was knocked out in the second qualifying round. Her next event was the U.S. Indoor Championships in Oklahoma City. She progressed through three qualifying rounds and beat Shinobu Asagoe in the first round before losing to Sarah Pitkowski-Malcor in the second round. Hantuchová's next three tournaments were the Miami Open, where she received a wildcard and lost in the first round to Elena Dementieva; the Amelia Island Championships, where she lost in the first qualifying round to Pavlina Nola, and the Belgian Open, where she lost in the first round to Kim Clijsters.
At Strasbourg in May, Hantuchová reached her first ever WTA quarterfinal. She won three qualifying matches before beating Iroda Tulyaganova and Nadia Petrova in the first and second rounds, respectively. She lost the quarterfinal to Rita Kuti-Kis. She did not enter the qualifiers for that year's French Open. In her next four tournaments, the Birmingham Classic, Wimbledon, the Austrian Open and the US Open, she did not advance beyond the qualifying rounds. Between the Austrian Open and the US Open, Hantuchová won her final ITF tournament, at a $50k tournament held in the Bronx, she beat Yi Jingqian in the final in straight sets.
Hantuchová reached her second quarterfinal of the year at the Luxembourg Open when she beat Virginie Razzano in the first round and Nathalie Tauziat in the second round. She lost in the quarterfinals to Barbara Rittner. At the Slovak Indoors, she lost in the first round of the singles to Anne Kremer. However, she and partner Karina Habšudová won the doubles tournament. They were due to face Petra Mandula and Patricia Wartusch in the final, but they withdrew and Hantuchová and Habšudová won in a walkover. It was Hantuchová's first WTA Tour title. Her final tournament of the year was the Philadelphia Championships. In the first round, she beat Alexandra Stevenson, who retired injured after the end of the first set. In the second round, she lost to Nathalie Tauziat.
2001: First tour semifinal Hantuchová began 2001 at the Sydney International, where she lost in the first qualifying round. She automatically qualified for the Australian Open but lost to Anna Kournikova in the first round. Hantuchová then reached her first ever tour semifinal at the U.S. Indoor Championships. She beat Tara Snyder, third seed Amanda Coetzer and Anikó Kapros, before losing to Jennifer Capriati in the semifinals. Hantuchová then progressed through two qualifying rounds at the Indian Wells Open but lost to Rita Kuti-Kis in the first round of the main draw. She received a wildcard for the Miami Open, but lost in the first round.
Hantuchová played three Fed Cup matches for Slovakia in April, and then in the German Open in May, where she lost in the second qualifying round to Francesca Schiavone. At the Italian Open, Hantuchová lost in the singles to eventual finalist Amélie Mauresmo in the third round. She also competed in the doubles with Nagyová. They beat Kerry-Anne Guse and Alicia Molik in the first round, Martina Navratilova and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the second round, Mary Pierce and Ai Sugiyama in the quarterfinal and lost to Paola Suárez and Patricia Tarabini in the semifinal. Hantuchová's form saw her qualify automatically for the French Open, beating Alexandra Stevenson in the first round and losing to eighth seed Conchita Martínez in the second round. She again teamed up with Nagyová in the doubles, reaching the third round.
Hantuchová reached her second semifinal of the year at the Birmingham Classic in June. She beat Nathalie Dechy, Eleni Daniilidou, Nicole Pratt, and Virginie Razzano, before falling to Miriam Oremans in the semifinals. At the Eastbourne International a week later, Hantuchová entered the doubles with the previous year's champion Ai Sugiyama. They reached the semifinals, where they lost to second seeds Cara Black and Elena Likhovtseva. At Wimbledon the week after, she beat Oremans in a rematch in the first round and lost to Venus Williams in the second round. She also entered the doubles, losing in the third round with Karina Habšudová; and the mixed doubles with Leoš Friedl. Unseeded, they beat Devin Bowen and María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round, top seeds Rennae Stubbs and Todd Woodbridge in the second, 13th seeds Jiří Novák and Miriam Oremans in the third round, 15th seeds Donald Johnson and Karina Habšudová in the quarterfinal, and Kimberly Po and David Rikl in the semifinal. In the final, they faced Mike Bryan and Liezel Huber, winning in three sets. It was then-18-year-old Hantuchová's first ever Grand Slam final appearance and victory.
In July, Hantuchová was knocked out in the first round of the Austrian Open by Maja Palaveršić and played in the PreCon Open in Basel, losing to Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian in the quarterfinal. She also took part in the doubles, partnering with Magüi Serna and reaching the semifinals. Her next three tournaments were the Canada Masters, where she lost to Jennifer Capriati in the second round; the New Haven Open, where she lost to Květa Peschke in the third qualifying round; and the US Open, where she lost to Nathalie Dechy in the first round.
In September, Hantuchová played in the Sparkassen Cup. She progressed through three qualifying rounds, beat Henrieta Nagyová in the first round and Jelena Dokic in the second round before losing to Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinal. In October, Hantuchová won three qualifying matches at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix but lost to Patty Schnyder in the first round. At the Zurich Open, she won three qualifying matches, beat Meghann Shaughnessy and Barbara Schett and lost to eventual winner Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals. Her final event was the Luxembourg Open, where she lost to Anna Kournikova in the second round. She also played in the doubles with Elena Bovina, reaching her second final of the year. They were unsuccessful, however, losing to Bianka Lamade and Patty Schnyder.
2002: Breakthrough year, Australian Open doubles final & mixed doubles title
Hantuchová started the year as the world No. 38 at the Gold Coast Hardcourts, where she lost to Justine Henin in the second round. At the Sydney International, Hantuchová was knocked out in the second round by Meghann Shaughnessy and went on to play at the Australian Open. In the singles, she was seeded 32nd and lost in the third round to second seed Venus Williams. In the doubles, she and partner Arantxa Sánchez Vicario were seeded thirteenth and reached the final, where they lost to Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova. In the mixed doubles, she and partner Kevin Ullyett also reached the final, where they beat Gastón Etlis and Paola Suárez, securing Hantuchová her second Grand Slam title in as many years.