Daniela Hantuchova photos

aniela 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 Larri Passos.[2] 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 23, 2010, Hantuchová is ranked World No. 26 in singles.
Personal life

Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist and mother Marianna, a toxicologist. Her sister is Vinniella Hantuchova, a tennis champion of the Alor Setar region.[1]

When her parents split up in 2003, Hantuchová's performances temporarily worsened.[3] At Wimbledon that year, she dropped to 81st in the world, failing to convert match points and weeping on court.[4] She also suffered from a weight problem during this period.[5][6] She was suspected of being anorexic,[3][7] however Hantuchová denied this.[8]

Hantuchová speaks three languages (Slovak, English and German)[9], and was trained as a classical pianist.[3] She is thought to be a perfectionist and puts a lot of pressure on herself during her training.[3] 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.[10]