Another interview from the Bali website

PLAYER FEATURE: DANIELA HATUCHOVA - JUST ONE MORE STEP TO GO
22 Aug 2008
by Barry Wood

The Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic is already Daniela Hantuchova’s favourite tournament. What would make it even more perfect is if she can go one step further this year and claim the title a year after she lost a pulsating final to Lindsay Davenport. It was close, but she couldn’t quite do enough to overcome the former champion and one of the all-time greats of the game.

"I was trying to do the right things," said Hantuchova after the match. "I think I had the right tactic, which was to move Lindsay around to make her play that extra shot, but all credit to the way she was playing. She was serving great. She got out of trouble a lot with her first serve. But I had a fantastic week. I really enjoyed it. It was wonderful. We had such a great time, and especially the people were incredibly friendly and I loved every second of it."

She should have hated the place after her first visit, because she travelled halfway around the world after playing at the US Open and then lost in the first round. Players have the whole world to choose from when they pick where they will play, and losing in the first round tends to leave unpleasant memories and a desire to skip the place next year and try somewhere else. Not for Daniela.

With success on the court last year, a beautiful resort to relax in and the chance to mix in some trips to the spa and enjoy the inner-cleansing experience of yoga sessions along with the tennis, no wonder the svelte Slovak is back in Bali for a third time.

Since she was last here Daniela has remained in or close to the top 10, with the highlight of the past year being her stunning run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open where she was overcome by eventual champion Ana Ivanovic in a gripping centre court battle. Add another final in Luxembourg, a title in Linz and a run to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, and it is obvious that Daniela will be a favourite to add her name to the list of champions at the Grand Hyatt Resort, Bali.

But life isn’t all tennis. I asked her about what goes on in her life away from the tennis courts. Not for her slouching in an armchair watching tv. She likes a bit of action, and she has something of a passion for jet skiing. But surely that’s a bit risky for a tennis player, who could lose a huge amount of earnings if things went wrong. There was a guilty giggle.

I know I should be a little more careful," she smiled. "But I don’t do it crazy. Especially since I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid. If I was starting now it would be different, but maybe now because I’m used to it, the same with (snow) skiing. I know people say it’s dangerous, but if you do it since you were three years old I don’t think so. Anything can happen to you, even walking along the street. You’ve got to live a normal life. I don’t get the chance to do it much now, only during my off-season. Between the tournaments I don’t want to risk it."

That’s okay then. Another off-court interest is considerably more sedate. Unless there’s suddenly the smell of burning from the kitchen, perhaps.

"I’m starting to cook," she said. "Mummy was giving me some lessons and I love it. It’s also a great way to relax, and it’s so nice to be able to make somebody else happy by making them eat something that you actually do. I do enjoy baking, sweet stuff."

And, like many players, she is a little bit superstitious.

"Not too much," she said, "but for example, when I’m doing well in a tournament I like to keep doing the same things, like eating at the same restaurant, eating the same food. Same locker, same practise court. But once I’m out of the tournament I’m pretty relaxed."

Other things you might like to know about Daniela include the fact that she speaks three and a bit languages, because she knows Slovak, English and German and is learning Spanish. As well as jet skiing and snow skiing, she enjoys ice skating, roller blading and swimming, and her favourite foods are sushi and seafood, with crêpes with nutella as dessert. And she likes to drink hot chocolate, although probably not in the heat of Bali. Nice when you come off the slopes, though.

She is very keen on fashion, and as well as being a regular in the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic players party fashion show, she has been featured in Vogue. Her favourite designers are Armani, Cavalli, Dior and Missoni. As well as Bali, she loves visiting Cape Town, and Rome, where she reached the semi-finals last year before injury prevented her playing there in 2008.

She also studied classical piano between the ages 6 and 14, and she was good enough to give concerts.

"I really enjoyed it. It was very difficult time-wise because I had my school in the morning, tennis practise, then piano, then tennis again and then study in the evening. So I was finishing my day at 11, 11.30. Every day was like that from eight o’clock in the morning, but I loved it. I did some pretty big concerts, and I can tell you I’ve never, ever been so nervous in my life. When I was about 13, 14, a couple of hundred at least would be watching, maybe a thousand. It was scary stuff, but it prepared me well for the tennis circuit so it was good."

Back to business. Appearing on court before thousands of cheering fans is great, of course, but there can be the occasional downside. The travel sounds glamorous, but it can have its problems now and then.

"Sometimes you miss the flight connection or lose your bags, or you have somebody you really don’t want to talk to sitting next to you on a flight, but I can’t really complain too much," she said. "I’ve lost my bags two or three times. Once I lost them before Indian Wells in 2002, but then I went on to win it. I didn’t have clothes for the first three days so I was practising in jeans!

"And, basically, you have to give up everything else in your life. It's not a job from 8am to 4pm. You have to be committed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People don't see everything we do. They see we go to beautiful places, but we're in a different hotel room every week, for maybe 10 months of the year. Okay, the hotels are nice ones, but it's not home. I get homesick a lot. But I also know that it's a big privilege to do something in life you love, and I do love tennis."

And people love watching her, and her many fans in Bali would like nothing better than to see her lift the trophy.

Sparky Hantuchova plans to reignite career in Bali
Tue 09 Sep, 05:46 AM


NUSA DUA, Bali (Reuters) - Daniela Hantuchova plans to use the Bali Classic as a springboard back into tennis's top 10 after injury interrupted one of the best seasons of her career.

The top-seeded Slovak, who finished runner-up last year to Lindsay Davenport here, reached her first grand slam semi-final at the Australian Open in January, and followed that up with three consecutive quarter-finals in Paris, Antwerp and Indian Wells.

Just as she was building momentum and form she was struck down by a stress fracture in her right heel, causing her to miss almost the entire claycourt season.

"Missing the clay courts wasn't so tough, but Wimbledon I was concerned about," she told Reuters in Bali.

"I just couldn't imagine myself skipping Wimbledon. The disappointing thing is that at the beginning of the season I felt I was right there. I was playing the tennis I always wanted to play, so that was tough."

She admitted this week that she really needed around five months to recover her fitness, and not the 10 weeks she allowed herself.

The result of that early comeback was that she lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Alisa Kleybanova, and further disappointment followed as she won just two of her next seven matches, a period that included an opening round defeat by lowly Anna-Lena Groenefeld at the US Open.

"Maybe I started back too early, but it was so tough to be away," she said.

"At first I enjoyed having free time and for the first time in my life I could spend time with my friends and family and do things I wanted to do.

"But then I just missed it so much. I enjoyed being a normal person for a while, but then I had the feeling so badly that I wanted to be on the court again."

Hantuchova made good use of her enforced break from the game, going where she wanted to go instead of where the tennis tour dictated.

"I travelled to places I wanted to visit," she said. "I went to Tuscany. It was just having the freedom. You wake up and don't have to think about having to go to the court to practise. All I had to worry about was the rehab. Apart from that I could do whatever I wanted to do.

"But I was taking the rehab really seriously and I think that's why I was able to recover pretty fast. The doctors were pretty tough with me and said I have to do it the right way or it's going to take even longer."

Thanks, everyone. When she plays smaller tournaments, we seem to get a lot more in the way of interviews and media. She's never going to be the main attraction at a Grand Slam, but she can be one of the top draws at a tier two or three. It's the big fish in a small pond idea.

Didn't know where else to post this , but Slovakia have to play vs Belgium next year in the Fedcup
i gonna have so much discussions with all the Belgian tennisfans here that they have no chance at all

Would of been the worst draw ever a year or so ago, not so much anymore. The only Belgian players I can think of now off the top of my head are Flipkens and Wickmayer and neither of those names really worry me when the Slovaks have 3 players inside the top 100 and 2 inside the top 20

Scott

Flipkens isn't first or second choice anymore , Hendler 14-15 year old talent and wickmayer are .
First one is highest player of her age on the ranking but ok ...

I saw Hendler play at Wimbledon in the junior event this year. She's a decent player, and could be a very good senior player of the future. Not surprised they pick her over Flipkens. I don't see any future for her.

Yes, i read that also...Well, i don't think that we should believe
that rumour because Dani has not sacked Gimenez yet ( or the opposite ! ).
It doesn't make sense, we are getting to the end of the season,
if Dani wanted to change coach, she would do it on December, right ?
On the other hand, you never know...
According to the article, Tati and Courteau will work together
for a while and then they will decide whether they will become partners...

pls change that in 'sacked' cause this version is a horrible thought

my thought exactly.