Daniela Hantuchova (born April 23, 1983 in Poprad, Slovakia earlier CSSR ) 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.
Hantuchova 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.
Until the 2009 US Open, Hantuchova was endorsed by Nike sportswear and had her own line with them for her tournament wear, similar to players such as Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. From the 2009 US Open onwards, Hantuchova began endorsing Adidas sportswear.
Hantuchova also has endorsed three racquet brands. She was first endorsed by Babolat from being a junior until late 2003, then Yonex until the 2007 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo when she then used the Prince Ozone Seven Racquets from the 2007 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.
Hantuchova has been in many sports/tennis related video games with such players as Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova.
Some of the titles are Top Spin (both Xbox and Play Station 2 versions), Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 and Virtua Tennis 3. Hantuchova is currently ranked third behind Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic in a poll for new downloadable players for Top Spin 3. Hantuchova is also a playable character in Virtua Tennis 2009.
