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
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.
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.
She proved she really deserves to be one of the best players in the world. She's just playing unbelievable tennis.
I just tried to be a bit calmer and patient.
This was one of the best matches I've played against her. I tried to step it up a little bit, went for my shots and be aggressive, but at same time be a little smarter.
I made the second set very difficult for myself, but I managed to turn it around in the third. That was the best part of my match.
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.
You have to hit like 10 winners before you get a point because she gets every single ball back. When you give it away, it kills me and that's where I lost my head at the beginning of the second set.
She?s such a great ball striker, ... and if it?s in her hitting zone, she?s going to hit a winner almost every single time.