After her retirement, she became a tennis commentator. In 2018, she was a commentator for Amazon Prime's coverage of the 2018 US Open.[6] In 2020, she started a podcast called "The Real DNA".[7]
Hantuchová's parents are both scientists. Her father, Igor Hantucha, is a computer scienceprofessor. Her mother, Mariane Hantuchová, is a toxicologist. Daniela was taught to play tennis by her grandmother, Helena, when she was six years old. Helena used to be a Slovakiannational champion. Even though Daniela practiced a lot at tennis, she studied hard at school as well.[8]
Hantuchová's parents were divorced in 2003.[9] At the same time Hantuchová lost weight, and people became worried she was ill with anorexia. She said "I have proved that physically I don't have any problems."[8]
Hantuchová holds her racquet in her right hand, but uses both hands when playing backhand shots.[12] She can hit the ball hard with both her forehand and backhand. She has a strong serve and can play well when close to the net. She is famous for her long legs which are 110 centimetres (43 in) long.[8] Because she is so tall (1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)), she can run a long way in a short amount of time, which also helps in returning shots, also adding power.[13]
In 2002, Hantuchová lost in the quarter-final of both the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open. However, playing with ZimbabweanKevin Ullyett, she won the mixed doubles at the Australian Open.[17] She also came second in the doubles in Australia, playing with Spanish player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. She and Ullyett lost the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon in the same season. She did win her first singles WTA tournament, beating Swiss player Martina Hingis at the Masters tournament at Indian Wells in California.[18] She also won two more WTA doubles tournaments, in Florida and Connecticut in the United States. Both times she won with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.[11] Hantuchová finished the season in the top 10,[12] and was given an award for being the most improved player in 2002 by the WTA.[16] In January 2003, Hantuchová was the fifth best female tennis player in the world. As of June 2008, this is the best she has done.[19] Later in 2003, she split up from her English coach, Nigel Sears.[20]
Sears coached Hantuchová again in 2004 and in 2005, where she won the mixed doubles at the French Open and the US Open.[21][22] This means she had won all four Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments. In June 2005, she and Japanese player Ai Sugiyama won a WTA tour doubles tournament in Birmingham, England. The same pair came second in the doubles final at the French Open. Hantuchová won her sixth WTA doubles title with Russian player Anastasia Myskina in Germany in October 2004.[11]
Hantuchová and Sugiyama won another doubles tournament in March 2006, this time in Doha, Qatar. Hantuchová finally split up with her coach, Sears, for good in April 2006.[19] She went on to win her eighth WTA doubles tournament in May 2006 in Rome, Italy, again with Ai Sugiyama.[11] Hantuchová won her second singles match WTA Tour title in March 2007, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova at Indian Wells again.[23] She then won her third singles Tour title in October 2007, beating Swiss player Patty Schnyder in Linz in Austria.[24] Hantuchová lost in the semi-final of the 2008 Australian Open to Serbian player Ana Ivanović.[25] She also lost in the second round at Wimbledon in June 2008.[11] Since the semi-final appearance, Hantuchová has failed to make it beyond the fourth round in any of the Grand Slam tournaments.[11]
On July 6, 2017, Hantuchová announced that she was going to retire from playing tennis professionally.[5] Over her career, she won more than $10.4 million from playing tennis. She is the first Slovak woman to win this much money just from tennis tournaments.[1]
By winning the 2005 US Open title, Hantuchová completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam. She became only the fifth female player in history to achieve this.