Serena's the best in history - and she's getting better
Date
January 19, 2014
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Daniela Hantuchova
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Before this tournament started I said Serena Williams was the player to beat in the women's draw and it is still true. For me she is the greatest female player ever and she just keeps getting better.

I have a lot of admiration for Serena and what she has achieved. Her record here in Melbourne - 17 grand slams in total, including five Australian Opens - tells you a lot about how consistent she has been over a long period of time. That is very hard to accomplish in sport.

The fact that Serena keeps improving shows how motivated she is. Like her, I am one of the older players on the tour and I have played her a lot over the years since we were first breaking through as teenagers, and often at grand slams.

I am absolutely convinced that she is a better player and a better athlete than she was when she first started winning major titles, even though she is now 32.

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Tennis keeps moving forward all the time, with new players coming through, new coaching techniques and developments in fitness and sports science. That means that you have to keep finding ways to stay ahead and Serena and her team have done a great job of that.

There is no question that the sport itself has become harder than it was when we both first started playing, but Serena has always kept pace with the changes and the younger players.

She inspires me because I think it shows that players keep evolving and can reach their peak much later in their careers. More and more these days you see players in our age group still being competitive at the top level. I know people will argue that players, including Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Margaret Court and Billie Jean King, should be ranked ahead of Serena in an all-time greats list. They certainly are all champions, but they did not have to contend with the same strength and depth in women's tennis that exists today.

Serena does not get to coast through early rounds of grand slams, which is what used to happen for the top players, and while she does not always play at her best every round or on every point, she knows just when to step it up at pressure moments.

People asked me after I lost to Serena on Friday what it is that makes her so difficult to play. One of the biggest things is her competitiveness - just when you think you have her in a vulnerable position, she comes back at you stronger than before. That's tough to cope with mentally when it happens over and over again.

Technically, her game has a lot of strengths but it is her serve which I would say is the outstanding shot. She serves better than any woman I have ever played against and her second serve also wins her a lot of points. It also puts a lot of pressure on you as her opponent, because you have to keep winning your service games, otherwise the scoreline can get away from you quite quickly.

That's why she has won so many matches here in Melbourne and around the world. It's why she'll keep winning matches this week.

Follow Daniela on Twitter @DHantuchova

Quality jinx from Daniela! It will always be Steffi for me.

Two attacking players ready to fight out Australian Open final
Date
January 25, 2014
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Daniela Hantuchova
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The Australian Open final between Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova is probably not the one that many people would have predicted before the tournament, but to me it's not that surprising to see these two playing for the title.

Obviously Li Na is a fantastic player and especially here, where she's been in the final twice before. She's also a grand slam champion and she was always going to be a threat because she plays so well on these courts. She always prepares really well in the off-season so she is fit and ready when she arrives.

My fellow Slovakian Cibulkova has probably come out of the blue for some people but everyone on the tour knows how dangerous she can be when she's playing well. She has caused a lot of upsets in her career because she is not afraid to go after her shots and be aggressive when it counts. Like Li, she is also a very good mover. Staying aggressive is very important against big players, where it's easy to let them dictate the points, especially if you are feeling a bit nervous. But Domi really showed that she can stay on the attack against Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals and when she knocked out Maria Sharapova earlier in the tournament.

This is a huge occasion for Domi and a very big day for tennis in our country. We are only 5.5 million people, but sport is very big in Slovakia and tennis is probably up there with soccer and ice hockey as the most popular to watch. We are quite a young country (we were part of Czechoslovakia until the early 1990s) and I think that makes us very patriotic, especially about sport.

We have had a lot of success in the last few years in women's tennis especially, and it has really grown, so we now have a new generation of very talented girls coming through juniors as well. When I was part of the team that won the Fed Cup in 2002 it was a really big story and things have grown from there. Any time any of us gets a big result there is a massive media interest back home.

Domi and I both speak to the Slovak media on the phone after every match we play, wherever we are in the world, and I know from my Twitter and Facebook messages how passionate the Slovakian tennis fans are and how many people are watching us on TV even at smaller tournaments. I'm sure Domi's phone has been ringing a lot in the past few days!

You have to shut that attention out a little bit in order to keep playing well. She has been in a semi-final before (at Roland Garros) and she has probably been using that experience and what she learnt from dealing with the attention then. That's when your team can really help you, by keeping all the routines you have had for every match and trying not to change too many little things so that this feels, as much as possible, like just another match.

Once they get on court and start playing, it will be about who is not afraid to go for it and execute their shots. Li Na's backhand is her biggest weapon but her forehand has also improved a lot. Cibulkova needs to find a way to neutralise that and stay on the attack, because that's when she is at her best.

Personally, I am always sad when another Australian Open comes to a close because I love being here. It's been a pretty good tournament for me and I can't wait to come back next year.

Follow Daniela on Twitter: @dhantuchova

Daniela Hantuchova changed coach, find the best
Author: SITA, Today 14:13

BRATISLAVA 7 (Reuters) - A recent change in the executive team, led by Slovakian tennis player Daniela Hantuchova took place under the influence of circumstances, but it has brought a solution that erstwhile top five world ranking "very, very pleased."

Thirty native Poprad before its entry into the tournament in Indian Wells, California, which triumphed in 2002 and 2007, explained why Ricardo Sánchez by Peter Lundgren. "The agreement was born completely unexpectedly, because my coach had to go so far to back surgery.'ve Been in such a state that the last joint tournament in late January in Paris was unable to stretch or walk. Rather, I had to take care of him I like him for me. barely flew from Australia to Europe and indeed no other option than operation has not," said the newspaper Sport Hantuchova.

Štyridsaťdeväťročný Swede Lundgren in the past has led, for example, Roger Federer, Marcela Rios, Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis and Stanislas Wawrinka."It's the person you admire years. I was pleasantly surprised that showed a lot of interest. Every day, I'm with him on the court, I learn new things. Tennis His view is great. Has valuable experiences. On court is always only about professionalism, but outside I positively surprised how completely into being. Normal, nothing at all to not play. doing so, I think that from the perspective of his name is the best coach ever what now exists in the circuit. Whilst we agree after Wimbledon," said Hantuchova.

Slovak duo has now been almost a month after the Bratislava Fed Cup match against German women due to the infirmary right knee. "We still do not have it wholly state. Actually, I just started playing about a week ago, so it is certainly a tennis or health is not where I would have wished it to be. However, this is a tournament that just can not completed.'s My matter of the heart, so I'm here and I will do everything to make him able to play in the best possible conditions," noted Hantuchova, who had at first cycling off and on Friday the 2nd round from 20:00 CET encounters with domestic reprezentantkou Varvara Lepčenkovou.

@ google translate

La tenista eslovaca Daniela Hantuchova estará en San Luis Potosí probablemente en las próximas semanas.

Lo anterior como parte de su preparación de cara a próximos compromisos, por lo que La Loma Centro Deportivo sería su lugar de entrenamiento. Hasta el momento el Centro de Alto Rendimiento no ha confirmado la noticia, pero se especula que en las siguientes horas puedan dar a conocer lo anterior.

Hantuchova de 30 años, ha formado parte del top 5 del mundo (en 2003) y actualmente es la número 20. Entre sus logros destaca la obtención de dos Masters de Indian Wells.

The Slovak tennis player Daniela Hantuchova will be in San Luis Potosí probably in the next few weeks.

The above as part of its preparation in the face of upcoming commitments, for which La Loma Sports Centre would be their place of training. So far high performance Centre has not confirmed the news, but it is speculated that within hours they can give to know this.

Hantuchova's 30 years, has formed part of the top 5 in the world (in 2003) and is currently the number 20. His accomplishments include obtaining two Masters in Indian Wells. (Translated by Bing)

LUNDGREN AIMS TO LIFT HANTUCHOVA'S GAME
Daniela Hantuchova looks to have similar success under new coach Peter Lundgren that the likes of Roger Federer, Marat Safin and others had under him.
Published April 14, 2014 12:12

Former World No.5 and six-time WTA titlist Daniela Hantuchova started working with renowned tennis coach Peter Lundgren last month, and it already appears to be paying off.

Hantuchova had lost five straight matches coming into her last event in Charleston two weeks ago, but en route to the quarterfinals there won three straight matches for the first time since the US Open.

Lundgren has worked with ATP stars Roger Federer, Marat Safin, Marcelo Rios and Stanislas Wawrinka, among others, and Hantuchova is thrilled to be the Swede's newest pupil.

"It's amazing. I can't tell you how thankful I am for this opportunity," Hantuchova said. "I wanted to work with him for years, but obviously he's been on the men's side coaching some pretty good names in the business. So I understood that.

"Having the opportunity now at this stage of my career is very motivating. It gives me a new kind of energy, and it's not easy the stuff he's trying to get me to do, but I'm prepared to do the work. I don't know how long it's going to take, but it's all great stuff, and I'm really delighted to have him by my side."

Lundgren is still getting used to some differences between the men's and women's game.

"I'm sure he sees things he doesn't see on the men's side, like double faulting three times in a row and the whole on-court coaching is pretty new," Hantuchova said. "It was kind of funny. He came on the court and didn't even sit down. I was like, 'Should I sit down?' It was all fun. He's learning fast and is getting used to the woman's thinking. I think that is the biggest difference between the girls and the boys, that they just think differently. But it's been great."

Hantuchova explained some other differences Lundgren is adjusting to.

"I'd have to say he's very surprised how fast we play," Hantuchova said. "We hit the ball really fast, whereas the guys use more spin. But overall it's pretty much the same, except the thinking part, where we, I think in general, like to make things a little bit more complicated than the guys.

"So that's something we are working on, but overall, he's just trying to get me to do the same stuff he's worked on with the guys."

Lundgren won three titles as a player on the ATP World Tour and got as high as No.25 in the world.

Service With A Smile
International tennis pro and model swings into San Diego

By Michael Benninger / Portraits by Dominic Kawja
Styled by Simone Perloff and Andrea Ross
Hair and Makeup by Janice Johnson, makeupbyjj.com

In July 2012, Hantuchová appeared nude on the cover of ESPN: The Magazine’s “The Body Issue.” Today, the Slovakian tennis star is posing (clothed, sorry) for the cover of PacificSD’s International Issue. She’s in town to make preparations for her upcoming season with the Aviators, San Diego’s new professional tennis franchise.

“Being drafted by the Aviators is very exciting,” says Hantuchová. “I’ve never played team tennis before.” One of seven teams comprising the Mylan World TeamTennis (WTT) league, which International Tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King co-founded with her ex-husband in 1974, the Aviators also include twins Mike and Bob Bryan, the world’s leading men’s doubles players. San Diego businessman Russell Geyser bought the team, formerly the New York Sportimes (2013’s last-place finisher), and moved it to San Diego.

When competing for the WTT’s coveted King Trophy, the Aviators will play five sets (men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles), facing off against the top players in the world, including Andy Roddick, Martina Hingis, sisters Venus and Serena Williams and many others.

To prepare for the coming WTT season (July 6-27, 2014), Hantuchová hired Peter Lundgren, former coach of Roger Federer, who’s currently ranked fourth in the world in men’s singles.

“Peter’s the best coach I’ve ever known,” she says. “I’ve wanted to work with him for many years, and this means so much to me.”

Off the court, Hantuchová’s service comes in another form — helping children. She established the Daniela Foundation, which supports a Cambodian hospital that cares for 120 HIV-positive children, and started a children’s charity near her original hometown in Slovakia.

“I’m trying to promote a healthy lifestyle for kids from a young age, encouraging them to be active, play sports and follow their dreams,” she says.

Trained as a classical pianist and fluent in five languages (she’s a great golfer, too), Hantuchová is something of a Renaissance woman. She’s also single.

“I can’t wait to have a family,” she says. “I would like at least two or three kids. Now I’m just waiting for the right husband to come along.”

Interested parties — in tennis, not marriage — can catch a glimpse of Hantuchová when she and the rest of the Aviators play seven home games at the Valley View Casino Center in July.

sandiegoaviators.com

Shot on location at:
The Sporting Club
8930 University Center Lane, La Jolla
858.552.8000, thesportingclub.com

wt

A League of Their Own

The teams of the World TeamTennis 2014

Austin Aces
Boston Lobsters
Philadelphia Freedoms
San Diego Aviators
Springfield Lasers (Missouri)
Texas Wild
Washington Kastles (Washington, D.C.)

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Daniela Hantuchová

D.O.B.: April 23, 1983
Hometown: Poprad, Slovakia
Current Home: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Height: 5’ 11”
Turned pro: May 1999
Plays: Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Prize Money Won: $9.47 million
Career Record (Singles): 515 wins, 349 losses
Singles Titles: 6
Doubles Titles: 9
Highest World Ranking: No. 5
Current Ranking: No. 30
Endorsement: Adidas

Daniela Hantuchova has turned into an attractive wonder: Her beauty secret surprise!

One of the best female tennis players is, moreover, a beautiful woman who knows what she wants, it is hard for a team, but not forgotten carried on the most important thing in life.

Tennis is paid from early childhood, when you fell in love with the sport. In his career, achieved a number of its objectives and fulfill a number of dreams, but as she says, is what has to be addressed: "Then my tennis life are still Metz that I want to achieve."

Daniel has achieved various successes and met a number of dreams. Anyway he is clear about what is most important in life and not forgotten, even after long years of the limelight. "I think that dream is the most important thing in life and the dreams that I have is too much," said honestly handy tennis player.

"Zabrdli" We have also to care for beautiful skin and when asked what preparation without the skin care can not be, Daniela replied without the slightest hesitation, and the answer was unexpected: "Total Beauty comes from within and I try to take care. Really live as I think is right. Being happy inside, and then it comes out well. "

Daniela had simple beginnings and decided to lend his face and name amazing idea. Combining beautiful charity projects Daniela Foundation and unique vitamin drinks for women, Daniela wants to be useful to his native country, and return what gave her the important moments of her childhood. It is impressive that famous tennis diva, which offers a world brand has no hardship, Slovak preferred pure product. It did so not only for its high quality and guaranteed that no added chemicals, but also because he wants to help us - at home: Hospital Poprad - where she was born, a primary school in Petržalka - which Vychodil, and the latest will extract these drinks promote girls and women on their way to reaching the target despite the difficulties.

@ google translate