Dr. Andrew Broad
Tennis
Daniela Hantuchová
Biography

How can I begin to define who Daniela Hantuchová is? She is a Slovakian tennis-player, and in my opinion one of the (if not the) most naturally gifted and flairsomely talented players in the game. She is also one of the nicest and most attractive girls on the WTA Tour, and there's an undefinable something about her that makes her stand out from the other players like an angel sent from Heaven. Wars have been fought, empires and entire civilisations have been won and lost, over girls not even close to being as beautiful, talented and intelligent as Daniela Hantuchová.

I had a hunch about Daniela long before I first saw her play (at Wimbledon 2001). I first heard of her on the website of the Slovenský Tenisový Zväz (Slovak Tennis Association) in late 1999. There was a profile of Daniela there, along with several other unknown juniors (who have not been heard of since). Although I couldn't understand a word of Slovak at the time, there was a very cute black-and-white photo of the young Daniela. I immediately made a wish for her to make it in tennis, and sure enough, she's come a long way since then - once an obscure junior, she rose to #5 in the world just over three years later!

Daniela is a tall, powerful girl - without being in any way ungainly or muscular. She has an all-court style of play - predominantly from the baseline, but quite often finishing off points at the net. She has a fantastic spreading baseline-game - although strangely she used to list her style of play as serve-and-volley! Although my type of player is the brilliant baseliner, a good net-game is certainly a nice bonus! However, Daniela's volleys can let her down when she lacks commitment and doesn't doesn't get to the net quickly enough to make them easy.

Because her long limbs give her excellent reach, Daniela is very difficult to pass at the net, and very effective when driven wide. She is very competent on all surfaces, although her game is most effective on fast surfaces such as grass, and least effective on clay.

Daniela can hit clean winners all over the court, and she's not afraid to go for her shots. She likes to hit off-forehands and go for the lines. She also has a fabulous running crosscourt forehand-pass (facilitated by her wonderful anticipation), but her trademark-shot would have to be her glorious pinpoint backhand down the line.

Daniela has sharp, thin, raking groundstrokes - with early preparation, big swings, a high take-back on the forehand, and two hands on the backhand - and generates power with immaculate natural timing rather than the sheer physical effort with which her more muscular contemporaries generate their power. My term for this is flairsome power (as opposed to muscular power). Daniela transfers her weight efficiently into her shots, and reminds me of Petr Korda in the way that the ball comes off her racket like a bazuka, with little apparent physical effort. Her strokes are so flairsome, smooth and elegant. She can hit the ball on the rise, and has very decent half-volleys.

Daniela hits her groundstrokes very flat, giving them the advantages of being fast and low-bouncing - particularly on grass. The disadvantage is that she has less margin for error, which means that she relies heavily on confidence. In 2006, she started working with coaches from the Casal/Sánchez academy at Barcelona - possibly because she wanted to add more topspin to her shots, hence more margin for error. And she has improved her forehand: a cleaner swing and a better strike-position.

In November 2007, her primary coach Angel Jiménez of the Casal/Sánchez academy said: "The most important thing about Daniela is that she has a big talent. In the past, she was using mainly her instinct. We have tried to bring a system into her play and combine it with her natural advantages... She has very skilful hands; she can do wonders with the ball. Sometimes, though, she has problems to catch the game-rhythm. Either she has a slow start to a game and gets into the right shape when the game is almost over, or vice versa. She must learn to be fully concentrated all match long, no matter who is playing against her, no matter what the scoreboard says or the conditions are."

Daniela has a lovely serve (arguably the most aesthetically pleasing serve in tennis, as well as very effective), especially the wide-angled serve, and her incomparable kick-serve. She has great arm-extension on her serve, with both feet off the ground to give herself more height. She also has a good second serve (one reason why Pete Sampras won seven out of eight consecutive Wimbledons was that he had the best second serve). And she has improved her serve by throwing the ball straight up, rather than throwing it to the right, slicing it and losing control.

Daniela has tremendous variety, although this can be her downfall when she's got so many options to choose from - not always thinking clearly. In her own words: "I make the mistake of seeing tennis as a chess-game, with so many different options. Sometimes if I have time and a big shot to hit, I think too much about whether to go for a short angle, a hard shot down the line, or whatever, you know. I just need to be a little smarter. Play the right shots at the right time." Her shot-selection should improve with experience - it takes longer to mature as a player when you've got more variety.

Daniela is a very methodical player, who takes a lot of time between points. When she is thinking clearly, she has a great understanding of angles and how to mix up the play, varying the pace and spin of the ball. She has exquisite touch, particularly on the backhand drop-volleys with which she loves to finish points.

Daniela is very buoyant and energetic on the court, and is one of the fittest players on the WTA Tour (in both senses of the word!), quite capable of playing for three hours in 30°C heat. She's done an excellent job of avoiding injuries so far in her career, although her dramatic weight-loss in 2003 was a serious cause for concern, and her weight has continued to fluctuate below the ideal. Also, her 2008 season was derailed by a stress-fracture in her right heel.

Daniela is not one of the best athletes in tennis in terms of mobility. Height is certainly an advantage in terms of shots and reach, but tall players don't tend to be the best movers. But movement also has a lot to do with attitude - for example, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams are both very tall, but they would run barefoot over broken glass to reach a shot!

Although she's a great fighter, Daniela's main weakness is her temperament. With a high-risk game, her confidence is very fragile, she carries a lot of tension in her body, she does get nervous when she's on the verge of winning an important match, and unfortunately she often loses matches after having big opportunities to win. She specialises in squandering break-points. She's an immensely talented but inconsistent player, often mixing brilliant winners with elementary errors. It has been suggested that she takes the game too seriously and tends to overanalyse, and that it's more important to play instinctively and stay in the moment. Daniela's at her best when she's uninhibited and hitting freely.

When Daniela gets nervous, her feet stop moving, which causes her to make unforced errors. Sometimes she has to deliberately exaggerate her footwork. Another sign to look out for is that she keeps looking up at her coach, as if she expects him to solve all her problems for her. She does tend to rely on her corner too heavily.

As a Daniela-fan, you can never expect her to win matches the simple way. It's typical Daniela to dominate a lesser player in the first set, and then 'decide' to make things difficult for herself - although she does have a good record in three-set matches (winning 61% of them in her career up to the end of 2008). And there's no more nerve-wracking time to be a Daniela-fan than when she's match-point up!

On court, she is feisty, often stimulating herself with fist-pumps, and arguing her case when it comes to disputed line-calls. She is very emotional, and has even been known to burst into tears on court! (most famously at Wimbledon 2003). Nowadays, she tends to look calm on the court, even when there's turmoil inside her head. She is certainly never boring, and somehow, whenever Daniela is on court, it's all about her.

With all that said, Daniela did show a vast improvement in her mental strength in 2007. "I'm understanding much better: if something goes wrong, it's part of the game, and it's okay not to be perfect all the time - to forgive myself if I don't win a match or if I don't make the desired shot."

Up to the end of 2008, Daniela has won three WTA singles-title. She has also won eight WTA doubles-titles (all prior to 2007). She led Slovakia to Fed Cup victory in 2002, and to Hopman Cup victory in 2005.

Her first singles-title was a spectacular triumph: she beat Martina Hingis 6-3 6-4 in the final of Indian Wells 2002 - a Super Tier I tournament! But she had to wait five years for her second WTA singles-title: she won Indian Wells again in 2007, and also won Linz later that year - perfect timing as she had to win the tournament to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships! She also qualified for the season-ending championships in 2002, in the good old days when it was a 16-player knockout-draw rather than the 8-player round-robin format introduced in 2003.

Daniela's highest WTA singles-ranking has been #5 - a position she held for six nonconsecutive weeks from 27th January to 16th March 2003 - although in my opinion, to climb back from #54 in June 2004 to #7 in February 2008 was an even greater achievement. As of the end of 2008, Daniela has spent a total of 90 weeks in the top ten: 47 consecutive weeks from 14th October 2002 to 7th September 2003, plus 43 nonconsecutive weeks from 18th June 2007 to 22nd June 2008.

Notable Daniela-victims (in singles) include Major champions Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Martina Hingis, Maria Sharapova, Amélie Mauresmo, Iva Majoli, Ana Ivanovic, Conchita Martínez, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and a 45-year-old Martina Navrátilová. Daniela has also beaten Jelena Jankovic, who finished 2008 ranked #1 despite never having won a Major.

Daniela completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles, winning the titles at Wimbledon 2001, Australian Open 2002, French Open 2005 and US Open 2005 (after that, she gave up mixed doubles to concentrate on singles and women's doubles). The only other women who have won all four Major mixed-doubles titles are Doris Hart, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King and Martina Navrátilová. Daniela does have the advantage that she can have any man she likes as a partner! ;-)

As of the end of 2008, Daniela's best run in women's singles at a Major has been reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2008. Her other three Major quarter-finals were all in a row: Wimbledon 2002, US Open 2002 and Australian Open 2003.

Daniela is one of the sexiest and most beautiful girls in tennis, largely because she looks so pure, innocent and natural. For me, she has been the most attractive player over the last few years (I used to think Iroda Tulyaganova was the sexiest, but changed my mind in favour of Daniela in 2003). Her face is very cute: there's something wistful about her eyes, and I've always liked the quirky angle of her nose when looking at her sideways - and in recent years, the gulp that she does on her service-toss! Her sleek features and long legs have attracted a huge male following, and she has arguably the sexiest dress-sense on the WTA Tour - both on and off the court. Perhaps now that she's 25 years old (if you're reading this before 23rd April 2009), she's not quite as delectable on court, but she can still outsexy anyone when she's all glammed up! ;-) Daniela has twice (in 2002 and 2004) been voted the world's sexiest female tennis-player by a panel of 'experts' for British tennis-magazine Ace. My only criticisms of her looks are constructive ones: (a) that she sometimes wears too much make-up on her face off-court, which detracts from her natural beauty, and (b) that she tends to let her hair fall down over her ears, which makes her face look somewhat chubby and less attractive - it's so much more attractive when she tucks her hair back behind her ears.

As a person, Daniela is very ambitious - sometimes she wants it too much. She's a workaholic - sometimes doing too much for her own good in terms of losing weight through excessive physical training. Like me, she always likes to be doing something - except when she's relaxing on a quiet beach! She is very bright, and has an exceptional ability to put theory into practice.

Daniela has a fascinating family. Her father, Igor Hantuch, is a professor of Computer Science at the Slovak University of Technology at Bratislava! As a computer-scientist myself, I really look up to him - becoming a professor and having a daughter who's a famous tennis-player is beyond my wildest dreams! Her mother Marianna, who used to travel with her before 2006, is a toxicologist, and her older brother Igor is an architect, so Daniela comes from a very impressive academic background. She graduated from high school in 2001 ("top of the class", I'm informed), she speaks Slovak, English and German fluently (I am English, I took German to 'A' Level, and have taught myself basic Slovak from a book!), and she has a place at the top university in Slovakia waiting for her after her tennis-career - she is certainly a very well-rounded young lady.

Daniela was born in Poprad, Slovakia on 23rd April 1983 - eleven days after Jelena Dokic, and exactly six years before Nicole Vaidišová! Daniela had to make a choice between tennis and skiing, but tennis was always the natural choice for her because her paternal grandmother, Helena Hantuchová, had been the best player in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s - it was she who introduced Daniela to the game at the age of six, and taught her the fundamentals.

The earliest Daniela-result I've been able to get hold of is when Slovakia was runner-up to Belgium in the 1996 Europa Cup: an international team-championship for girls aged 14 and under. Daniela beat Elke Clijsters 5-7 6-1 6-2, but Belgium won the tie 3:1.
            Slovakia won the Europa Cup in 1997, beating Russia 4:1 in the final. Daniela had the honour of sealing the tie with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Lina Krasnoroutskaya to give Slovakia an unassailable 3:0 lead; she and Martina Babaková beat Elena Bovina and Krasnoroutskaya 7-6 6-4 in the dead fifth rubber.

Fourteen-year-old Daniela won a junior-tournament in Domzale, Slovenia on 10th August 1997, beating her compatriot Katarína Basternaková 6-3 6-1 in the final.

Daniela took Slovakia to the final of the World Junior Tennis 1997 ITF Team Championships for 14 & Under. The final stages were held in Nagoya, Japan on 20th-24th August 1997: Slovakia beat Croatia 3:0 in the semi-finals (Daniela beat Anja Margetic 6-1 6-3; Daniela and Martina Babaková beat Ivana Abramovic and Margetic 6-3 6-2), but lost to Russia 1:2 in the final (Daniela lost to Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-2 6-4, but she and Lubomíra Kurhajcová beat Galina Fokina and Krasnoroutskaya 6-2 2-6 6-2 in the dead doubles-rubber).

In March, Daniela was runner-up at the Asuncion Bowl in Paraguay, losing 6-2 6-1 to Clarisa Fernández in the final. In May, she was runner-up in the Slovakia Cup at Bratislava, losing 6-1 6-3 to Katarína Basternaková.

Daniela played in the girls' singles at Wimbledon. She beat Kathy Vymetal 7-5 6-3 in the first round, but lost to Leanne Baker 7-6 7-6 in the second round. She reached the semi-finals of the girls' doubles with Katarína Basternaková - they were beaten 6-2 6-4 by Iroda Tulyaganova and Petra Rampre.

Daniela played an ITF challenger in her hometown Bratislava - her first-ever tournament counting towards the WTA rankings - in August. She qualified for the main draw, beating Mira Lorelei Radu 6-4 6-4, Maria Paola Zavagli 5-7 6-3 6-1 and Radka Pelikanová 6-3 3-6 7-6. She lost to fifth seed Ĺsa Carlsson 6-1 7-5 in the first round of the main draw.

Daniela took Slovakia to the final of the NEC World Youth Cup ITF Team Championships for 16 & Under, held at Cueno, Italy in September. She beat Maria Emilia Salerni 6-2 6-4 as Slovakia beat Argentina 2:1 in the semi-finals. But with Slovakia leading Italy 1:0 in the final, Daniela was upset 6-4 6-2 by the not-at-all-unattractive Maria Elena Camerin, "in a match that saw the big hitting Slovak become increasingly frustrated by some brilliant retrieving" [World of Tennis 1999]. Italy won the final 2:1 as Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci beat Daniela and Stanislava Hrozenská 6-4 6-1.

In October, Daniela completed a hat-trick of junior finals in 1998 at the World Super Junior Championships in Japan - which had the same status as the junior Major tournaments. She lost to junior world number one Jelena Dokic 6-1 6-3 in the final. Daniela herself finished 1998 as junior #13, and didn't qualify for a WTA ranking because she played only one tournament (the Bratislava challenger) - three tournaments in 52 weeks are needed for a player to have a WTA ranking.

Daniela led Slovakia to victory in the Helvetie Cup, an international team-championship for girls aged 16 and under, played zonally with final stages at Leysin, Switzerland. They beat Italy 3:0 in the final, with Daniela beating Flavia Pennetta 7-5 3-6 6-2 to seal the tie in the second rubber.

Daniela had a very quiet year: it seems that she left junior tennis to concentrate on her senior career (I can find no trace of her in the limited records I have of 1999 junior tennis), yet she played only seven tournaments. The first was a challenger at Bratislava in May, where she reached the semi-finals beating Tina Krizan 7-6 6-2, Martina Suchá 4-6 6-2 6-4, and seventh seed Sandra Kleinová 7-5 6-1. She lost to third seed Kristie Boogert 6-3 2-6 6-4 in the semi-finals.

Daniela then won the Jackson challenger with eight victories: in qualifying she beat Julie Shiflet 6-1 6-3, Dawn Buth and Yu-An Chen both 6-1 6-1; in the main draw she beat Madoka Kuki 6-2 6-1, Shiho Hisamatsu 6-3 6-2, third seed Nannie de Villiers 6-4 6-1, Kim de Weille 4-6 6-4 6-1, and Milagros Sequera 6-2 6-1 in the final. She entered the WTA rankings for the first time at around #269.

Daniela played her first-ever WTA tournament at Birmingham, albeit only in qualifying: she beat Sandra Kleinová 6-3 6-3, but lost 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Alexandra Stevenson in the second qualifying round. She played the Civitanova challenger in July, losing to Tathiana Garbin in the quarter-finals. She won the doubles-title at Civitanova with Eva Dyrberg, beating Rosa María Andres and Conchita Martínez Granados 7-6 4-6 6-3 in the final.

Daniela won the Fano challenger in September, beating Radka Pelikanová 6-4 7-5, Anna Zarska 6-1 6-1, Alena Vasková 6-2 3-6 6-0, Maria Paola Zavagli 2-6 7-5 6-4, and Flora Perfetti 6-4 6-7 6-2 in the final. She was a quarter-finalist at the Poitiers challenger, losing to Marie-Gaďané Mikaelian.

Daniela played her first-ever WTA main draw at Bratislava, where she was given a wild card and lost to fourth seed Sabine Appelmans 6-4 6-4 in the first round. It was at around this time that I discovered her on the Slovenský Tenisový Zväz website. She finished the year ranked #197.

Daniela took Slovakia to the final of the Soisbault/Reina Cup, an international team-championship for girls aged 18 and under, played zonally with the final stages in Spain. And it was Spain who beat Slovakia 3:0 in the final, with Daniela losing 7-6 6-4 to Lourdes Dominiguez, and losing with Stanislava Hrozenská 6-0 6-4 to Dominiguez and María José Martínez.

Daniela had another quiet year in 2000. Her ranking was too low to gain direct entry into any of the four Majors, and she failed to qualify for any of them. She beat Zsófia Gubacsi 6-4 6-1 in the first qualifying round for the Australian Open - her first-ever senior Major - but lost to Florencia Labat 7-5 6-3 in the second qualifying round.

Daniela won four matches to qualify and reach the second round of Oklahoma - she beat fellow qualifier Shinobu Asagoe 6-4 6-3 in the first round, and lost 6-2 6-3 to Sarah Pitkowski in the second, denying her a mouthwatering quarter-final with Monica Seles. Her ranking rose from #193 to #157. She entered the Ericsson Open on a wild card, and lost in the first round 5-7 6-3 6-2 to Elena Dementieva. She lost 6-2 6-1 to Pavlina Nola in the first qualifying round for Amelia Island, and her ranking dropped to #185.

Daniela made her Fed Cup début in April 2000 - Slovakia were in World Group B, playing on a round-robin basis in Bratislava for a place in the semi-finals. Sadly Slovakia lost 1:2 to Switzerland (Daniela and Karina Habšudová beat Patty Schnyder and Miroslava Vavrinec (an ethnic Slovak) 6-7 6-2 7-5 in the dead doubles-rubber), 1:2 to the Czech Republic (Daniela beat Kveta Hrdlícková 6-4 6-2 in the opening singles-rubber, but Daniela and Karina lost the deciding doubles-rubber 7-5 6-3 to Hrdlícková and Daja Bedanová) and 0:2 to Austria (Daniela lost 6-4 7-6 to Marion Maruska). This marked the first time that two players of whom I'm a fan now have ever played doubles together (I declared myself a fan of Karina on 21st August 2000, and a fan of Daniela on 28th June 2001).

Daniela lost 7-6 6-1 to Kim Clijsters in the first round (main draw) of Antwerp, but then reached her first WTA quarter-final at Strasbourg. Although she lost in the third qualifying round 6-4 6-4 to Iroda Tulyaganova, she got into the main draw as a lucky loser, and ironically beat Iroda 6-4 6-4 in the first round of the main draw! She beat Nadia Petrova 7-6 6-2 in the second round, then had to make the tough decision not to try to qualify for the French Open (the French Open qualifying was the same week as Strasbourg). She suffered her second 6-4 6-4 loss of the tournament to Rita Kuti Kis in the quarter-finals, and her ranking went up to #170.

It was not a happy grasscourt season for Daniela, as she lost to Catherine Barclay in the first qualifying round for Birmingham; she beat Elena Bovina 6-1 6-2 in the first qualifying round for Wimbledon, but lost 6-2 2-6 6-4 to Rachel McQuillan in the second qualifying round.

Daniela lost to Anca Barna in the second qualifying round for Pörtschach, and to Eva Bes in the semi-finals of the Fontanafredda challenger. Then she won the Bronx challenger with eight victories: she beat Tatiana Kovalchuk 4-6 6-3 6-4, Marion Maruska 7-5 6-1 and Allison Bradshaw 6-3 7-6 to qualify; in the main draw, she beat Iroda Tulyaganova 7-6 6-7 6-2, Ashley Harkleroad 7-5 6-1, Els Callens 6-4 7-5, Marlene Weingärtner 6-3 1-6 7-6 in the semi-finals, and top seed Jing Qian Yi 6-4 6-4 in the final. Her ranking rose from #162 to #124.

Sadly, Daniela couldn't take this form into the US Open, where she suffered her third defeat of the year in the second qualifying round of a Major to Miriam Schnitzer 6-3 6-3. But she got her first really impressive scalp at Luxembourg, when she beat top seed Nathalie Tauziat 2-6 6-3 7-5 in the quarter-finals - the first sign that Daniela is a big talent. She lost to Barbara Rittner in the quarter-finals, and her ranking rose to #114.

Daniela endeared herself to me by winning the doubles-title with Karina Habšudová at the Eurotel Cup in their home-town of Bratislava, although sadly they won the final by default because their opponents Petra Mandula and Patricia Wartusch withdrew before the match started because Wartusch was injured. Daniela lost 3-6 6-3 6-3 to second seed Anne Kremer in the first round of the singles, denying her a mouthwatering second-round match with Karina.

Daniela beat fellow wild card Alexandra Stevenson 6-3 retired in the first round of Philadelphia. Nathalie Tauziat avenged her Luxembourg defeat by Daniela 7-5 6-4 in the second round. Daniela finished the year ranked #108.

This was the year that Daniela truly 'arrived', playing in the main draws of the Majors and establishing herself as the most impressive up-and-coming player younger than Jelena Dokic.

Daniela started the year with a loss to Brie Rippner in the first qualifying round for Sydney, then played her first match in the main draw of a Major at the Australian Open, where she lost 6-2 7-5 to eighth seed Anna Kournikova after a well-contested second set.

My hunch about Daniela grew like topsy over the first six months of 2001, as she started to put good results together, and I read more and more about her on the Internet. I had not seen her play at that point, but I had read about her game, and she sounded more impressive every time I read about her! I couldn't wait to see her play. Daniela was so prevalent in my mind during this period that I would regularly do Google searches to dig out what little information there was about her on the Internet.

Daniela reached her first WTA Tour semi-final at Oklahoma in February, beating Tara Snyder 6-3 6-4 before pulling off the second great win of her career: a 7-6 (7/0) 3-6 6-0 scalp of third seed Amanda Coetzer which filled me with joy because I was very happy for Daniela that she won that match. Coetzer put her defeat down to Daniela's wide-angled serve. Daniela then beat another promising youngster Anikó Kapros 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals, and played a great semi-final against Jennifer Capriati, who beat her 6-4 3-6 6-2. It's a pity Daniela couldn't have won that match, because it would have set up a mouthwatering final with my favourite player Monica Seles, who beat Capriati to win the tournament. Monica v Daniela was my dream final at the start of the tournament - I never expected to actually get it, but I almost did! :-)

Daniela's ranking rose from #108 to #88 after Oklahoma. She won two matches to qualify for Indian Wells, but lost 6-1 6-4 to Rita Kuti Kis - what a difference a year would make! :-) She lost to Jana Nejedly in the first round of the Ericsson Open, and to Francesca Schiavone in the second qualifying round for Berlin.

Daniela's next really impressive tournament was the Italian Open 2001. She won two matches to qualify, beat Selesian player Adriana Serra-Zanetti 6-7 6-2 6-4 in the first round of the main draw, then there was a changing of the guard in Slovakian tennis as Daniela thrashed Slovak #1 Henrieta Nagyová 6-0 6-1. In the third round, Daniela took a set off one of the great form-horses of 2001, Amélie Mauresmo, to go with the one she took off Capriati at Oklahoma. Daniela's interview after the Mauresmo match was the first (and latest) Daniela interview I've read - it's full of intriguing revelations, and I really like her personality, too.

Daniela had her first win in the main draw of a Major at the French Open 2001 when she beat Alexandra Stevenson 6-3 6-3 in the first round. She lost to 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martínez 7-6 6-4 in the second round - Martínez struggled to cope with the power of Daniela, but won because of her greater experience and consistency. Emilio Sánchez said that of all the young players who had emerged in 2001, Daniela was the one who impressed him most. I'll second that! :-)

After the French Open, I waited with bated breath to see whether Daniela could play on grass. Most of my players tend to struggle on grass, which makes Wimbledon a very frustrating tournament for me, even though it is my favourite tournament because it's the only tournament with decent analogue terrestrial televisation in England. I was very pleased to see that Daniela reached the semi-finals of Birmingham: she beat Nathalie Dechy 4-6 6-4 6-3, Eleni Daniilidou 6-2 6-3, Nicole Pratt 6-4 6-4 and Virginie Razzano 6-4 6-0, but lost 2-6 6-4 7-5 to grass-court specialist Miriam Oremans in the last four. Her ranking went up from #68 to #58. Although not yet a committed Daniela fan, I was very tempted to go down to Birmingham to watch her, but sadly it proved impractical for me to do so. It was at Birmingham that Nigel Sears became Daniela's coach, after Daniela had trained at the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida over the previous couple of years.

Ironically, Daniela had to play Miriam Oremans again in the first round of Wimbledon 2001. I knew that the reward if she won would be a second-round against defending champion Venus Williams - my best chance to see Daniela on TV! I prayed very hard for her to beat Oremans, I followed the scores on CEEFAX, and I was very happy and relieved when Daniela won 7-6 7-5.
            Although Venus Williams dismissed Daniela 6-3 6-2, Daniela put up an impressive performance against an opponent who was playing out of this world. The BBC televised the match from 1-1 in the first set to 1-2 in the second, when there was a rain delay. Although the brute force of Williams proved too much in the end, Daniela matched her shot for shot in many of the rallies, both of them hitting with great depth. Daniela had Williams scrambling around the back of the court on several occasions. Daniela hit one great backhand return winner down the line at 2-5 in the second (they showed it in the highlights programme Today at Wimbledon). Daniela has great anticipation - sometimes she would start moving even before Williams hit the ball! One of the best shots of the match was an amazing half-volley drop-shot from no-man's-land, as Daniela recovered from 1-3 to 3-3 in the first set. So she's got good HANds/ToUCH! ;-) She didn't go to the net against Williams, though, and I don't blame her.
            Although losing 3-6 2-6 can hardly be called a brilliant performance, it was nevertheless an impressive revelation of Daniela's talent, with occasional flashes of brilliance which I hope I'll get to see a lot more of in the future. She certainly impressed the crowd and the commentators. Many experts thought she was top-ten material, and perhaps very soon! After seeing the Williams match, I decided to declare myself a Daniela fan because I wanted to be in on this talent, after months of hunching it felt like it was meant to be, and I didn't want to wait any longer. Since then, Daniela has more than vindicated my decision to become her fan so early.
            Daniela also had some great doubles-matches at Wimbledon 2001. She played women's doubles with Karina Habšudová (the ultimate Slovakian dream team!), beating Lubomira Bacheva and Cristina Torrens-Valero 6-3 4-6 6-1, upsetting 15th seeds Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 3-6 6-4, but sadly losing in the third round to Australians Rachel McQuillan and Lisa McShea 5-7 4-6.
            Daniela had an amazing run in mixed doubles with unknown Czech Leos Friedl: they thrashed Devin Bowen and Maria Jose Martínez 6-0 6-3, they sensationally knocked out the top seeds Todd Woodbridge and Rennae Stubbs 1-6 6-3 6-4, and they added the scalp of 13th seeds Jirí Novak and Miriam Oremans (again!) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. There they stunned fifth-seeded defending champions Donald Johnson and Kimberly Po-Messerli 6-2 6-3 in a surprisingly straightforward match in which the men and Daniela always held serve, and Po-Messerli was broken every time except in the penultimate game - it's the relative qualities of the women that decide a mixed-doubles match, and what qualities Daniela has! :-)
            In the Wimbledon 2001 mixed-doubles semi-finals, Daniela and Leos beat my other Czech/Slovak pair, Karina and David Rikl, 6-2 5-7 6-3 in a mouthwatering match. The BBC showed Karina's service game at 3-4 in the third, in which they finally broke in a long game in which Karina kept saving break-points with service-winners against Friedl. Daniela and Leos then took the title, beating another unseeded pair Mike Bryan and Liezel Huber (née Horn) 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the final on the third Monday!! The BBC showed the last two games of the final: they broke Huber's serve - mainly due to brilliant shots from Daniela, who had the honour of serving for the match! She served it out to love with great angled serves, and the commentators admitted that she was the strength of her partnership! :-)

Back in April, Daniela had contributed two victories to Slovakia's 4:1 victory over Hungary in the first round of the Fed Cup World Group: she beat Rita Kuti Kis 6-4 6-4 in the opening rubber, and Petra Mandula 6-3 6-4 in the dead fourth rubber. She and Karina Habšudová lost 6-2 5-7 7-5 to Petra Mandula and Anikó Kapros in the dead doubles-rubber.
            In July, Daniela played in Slovakia's controversial Fed Cup World Group second-round tie against Russia in July. She lost to Elena Dementieva 6-2 7-6 in the opening rubber, but levelled the tie at 2:2 by beating Elena Likhovtseva 6-1 6-3 in the fourth rubber. Daniela and Karina were meant to play the deciding doubles-rubber, but due to an ugly contractual dispute, Daniela was replaced with Henrieta Nagyová, who lost with Karina 6-3 6-2 to Elena Likhovtseva and Nadia Petrova, giving Russia a 3:2 victory. :-||

Daniela lost to Maja Palaversic in the first round of Vienna (before the Fed Cup tie), then reached the quarter-finals at Basel: she beat Gala León García 6-4 6-2, Tatiana Poutchek 6-2 6-4, but was upset by wild card Marie-Gaďané Mikaelian 7-6 7-6 in the quarter-finals.

Daniela made an impressive start to her North American hardcourt season, beating Adriana Serra-Zanetti 6-4 6-4 at Toronto, where she lost to top seed Jennifer Capriati 5-7 7-5 6-2 in the second round - after being up a set and 4-1 with two breaks. That disappointment seemed to take the wind out of Daniela's sails as she lost to Kveta Hrdlicková in the third qualifying round for New Haven, and to Nathalie Dechy in the first round of the US Open.

The autumn of 2001 was (in Nigel Sears's opinion) an important turning-point in Daniela's career, because she successfully qualified for her next three tournaments, which entailed three victories each. At Leipzig she won five matches in all, for she beat Henrieta Nagyová 5-1 retired in the first round of the main draw, and on-form third seed Jelena Dokic 4-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-0 in the second round (Jelena served for the match at 6-4 6-5, had a match-point, then lost every game left in the match). Daniela lost to Elena Dementieva 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

Daniela also qualified for Filderstadt, but lost to Patty Schnyder in the first round of the main draw. At Zürich she won five matches to qualify and then reach the quarter-finals: in the main draw she beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3 6-4, Barbara Schett 6-1 7-6, and lost to Lindsay Davenport 3-6 6-1 6-1 in the quarter-finals. Her ranking rose from #53 to #40.

Daniela lost to Anna Kournikova in the second round of Luxembourg, and finished the year with a ranking of #38. She won the doubles-title at Luxembourg with Elena Bovina: they beat Bianka Lamade and Patty Schnyder 6-3 6-3 in the final.

Daniela enjoyed a year of fantastic progress which saw her win her first WTA Tour singles-title, break into the top ten, and lead Slovakia to Fed Cup victory! She looked well on the way to becoming one of the Williams sisters' main contenders, and perhaps the most exciting thing was that she had so much potential for improvement (particularly in terms of shot-selection).

Daniela played very well in the Australian hardcourt season, but couldn't quite knock off the seeds. She beat Bianka Lamade 6-1 7-5 in the first round of Gold Coast, and lost to second seed Justine Henin 1-6 6-0 6-3. She won four matches to qualify and reach the second round of Sydney, beating Magdalena Maleeva 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the first round of the main draw, but losing 6-4 6-1 to eighth seed Meghann Shaughnessy in the second. Her ranking rose from #37 to #28.

Daniela won many fans at the Australian Open, where she thrashed Maja Matevzic 6-3 6-1 and Tathiana Garbin 6-0 6-2, then pushed second seed Venus Williams all the way before losing their third-round clash 3-6 6-0 6-4. "In the third I came back into it and I had chances to break for 4-3 and 5-4, but I made some silly mistakes on big points. That was inexperience."
            Daniela won her second Major mixed-doubles title, this time with Kevin Ullyett: they beat eighth seeds Nicole Arendt and David Adams 6-4 6-2, Evie Dominikovic and Ben Ellwood 6-2 7-6, Katarina Srebotnik and Bob Brian 3-6 6-3 7-6 (9/7), second seeds Elena Likhovtseva and Mahesh Bhupathi 3-6 6-4 7-6 (8/6), and Paola Suárez and Gaston Etlis 6-3 6-2 in the final. Daniela was in fact unbeaten in mixed doubles until the French Open 2002.
            Daniela also reached the final of the women's doubles with Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario: they beat Anastasia Myskina and Tina Pisnik 6-4 6-4, Emmanuelle Gagliardi and Meilen Tu 6-4 6-2, fourth seeds Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama (walkover), ninth seeds Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik 7-6 6-1, 15th seeds Conchita Martínez and Magüi Serna 7-5 6-2, and lost the final to eighth seeds Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova 6-2 6-7 6-1. It was largely on the strength of Daniela's small black cocktail-dress that she was voted the sexiest woman in tennis by British tennis-magazine ace!

Daniela upset seventh seed Magdalena Maleeva 7-5 6-4 in the first round of Paris, but lost 6-2 7-5 to Francesca Schiavone in the second round. She was upset by Daja Bedanová in the second round of Antwerp.

Daniela won her first WTA singles-title in spectacular fashion at Indian Wells: she beat Tatiana Poutchek 6-2 6-2, 16th seed Barbara Schett 5-7 6-3 6-1, third seed Justine Henin 6-3 6-3 (Daniela's first-ever win over a top-ten player), 12th seed Lisa Raymond 6-4 6-2 and Emmanuelle Gagliardi 4-6 6-0 6-4 to reach her first-ever WTA singles-final.
            She overpowered second seed Martina Hingis 6-3 6-4 in 75 minutes to take the title. Daniela went for her shots fearlessly, repeatedly hitting the lines and producing a dazzling array of powerful, flairsome groundstroke-winners. She first served for the championship at 6-3 5-2, but needed a second attempt to close it out - and showed great strength of character to overcome that wobble. Daniela was the happiest tennis-player in the world! "I am just so excited to play my best tennis in the final. It is like a dream." Her ranking went up from #26 to #17.

Not unnaturally, Daniela suffered a reaction in her next tournament, Miami, where she lost to Cara Black 4-6 6-4 6-2 in her opening match. Her reaction continued into the claycourt season: she beat Evie Dominikovic 7-5 6-4 in the first round of Amelia Island, but lost 6-4 3-6 6-1 to compatriot Janette Husárová in the second. She won the doubles-title at Amelia Island with Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario: they beat Maria Emilia Salerni and Ĺsa Svensson (née Carlsson) 6-2 6-2 in the final.

Daniela lost to Mary Pierce 6-3 6-4 in the second round of Charleston, and Martina Hingis took revenge 7-5 6-4 in the quarter-finals of Hamburg (Daniela had set-point at 5-4 in the first). Daniela upset sixth seed Jelena Dokic 6-2 6-3 in the third round of Berlin, but lost 1-6 6-2 6-3 to Anna Smashnova (Pistolesi) in the quarter-finals. Daniela was upset by Anastasia Myskina in the first round of the Italian Open.

Daniela pulled herself together for the French Open, where she reached the fourth round of a Major for the first time. She scored a 6-2 6-3 revenge over Cara Black, then thrashed Selesian player Adriana Serra-Zanetti and Tatiana Panova both 6-3 6-1. She put up a respectable performance against the great Monica Seles, who played the key points better to beat her 6-4 7-5 - I was delighted to see the last six games of this match on BBC television! :-) Daniela's ranking reached #12 after some steady climbing.

Daniela reached her second semi-final of the year at Eastbourne - the first tournament I ever attended! In her opening match, she played the legendary Martina Navrátilová - the 45-year-old, retired from singles since November 1994 but still playing doubles, had taken a wild card after losing a bet with her coach. Daniela was embarrassed 6-2 in the first set by Navrátilová's net-rushing style, but won the next two 6-2 6-2 with some beautiful serve-and-volley tennis of her own. She laboured against qualifier Amy Frazier before winning their quarter-final 7-6 6-1, but came unstuck against Anastasia Myskina, losing their semi-final 6-2 6-1 (Nigel Sears had insisted on serve-and-volley, but Daniela's attempts to do this all the time proved disastrous).

Daniela reached her first-ever Major quarter-final at Wimbledon, beating Cristina Torrens Valero 6-3 6-2, compatriot Martina Suchá 6-2 4-6 6-3 (she was broken in the first game of the third, but stormed back winning four games in a row), and Maja Matevzic 6-4 6-4. In the fourth round she upset seventh seed Jelena Dokic 6-4 7-5 (after a 156-minute rain-delay with Jelena leading 4-2 in the second). This gave Daniela a 3-0 lead in their senior head-to-heads. Daniela lost her quarter-final 6-3 6-2 to second seed Serena Williams - the first set was a great contest of power-tennis from both players, but Williams was on awesome form.
            Defending her mixed-doubles crown with Kevin Ullyett rather than Leos Friedl, Daniela reached the final beating Iva Majoli and Nicolas Lapentti (walkover), Catherine Barclay and Chris Haggard 6-7 6-3 6-4, Elena Baltacha and Lee Childs 7-5 6-3, fifth seeds Lisa Raymond and Leander Paes 7-6 4-6 6-4, and 16th seeds Els Callens and Robbie Koenig 6-3 3-6 6-2. She lost her title to third seeds Elena Likhovtseva and Mahesh Bhupathi, who beat them 6-2 1-6 6-1 in the final.

Daniela lost her opening match at San Diego to Ai Sugiyama 6-4 1-6 7-5 in controversial circumstances: having been warned for taking longer than the permitted 20 seconds between points earlier in the match, Daniela was given a point-penalty by officious umpire Denis Overberg for the same offence when she was match-point down, handing victory to Sugiyama! This is not my idea of applying the rule with discretion. :-||

Daniela also lost her opening match at Manhattan Beach, 6-4 6-2 to Eleni Daniilidou, but reached the semi-finals at Montréal, beating Patty Schnyder 6-3 7-6, Amanda Coetzer 6-1 6-3, Barbara Schett 6-3 6-3, and losing to Amélie Mauresmo 6-2 7-6. She climbed one place to #11.

Daniela also reached the semi-finals of New Haven, beating Jennifer Hopkins 6-3 6-4, Iva Majoli 4-6 6-4 6-1, and Patty Schnyder 6-4 6-3. She was beaten by top seed Venus Williams 6-3 6-3 in the semi-finals. She won the doubles-title at New Haven with Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, beating Tathiana Garbin and Janette Husárová 6-3 1-6 7-5 in the final.

Daniela reached the quarter-finals of the US Open, beating Nicole Pratt 6-2 6-1, Virginie Razzano 6-3 6-2, and Iva Majoli 6-3 6-1. It's funny how often in tennis you play someone for the first time, then play them again almost immediately! ;-)
            Daniela was leading eighth seed Justine Henin 6-1 1-2 40/30 on Sunday when their fourth-round match was rained off. Daniela had just slipped on a wet line and sprained her right thumb - an injury which gave her only a 50% chance of being able to complete the match. But complete it she did, winning 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7/4) on Monday! As at Wimbledon, however, she couldn't contain the awesome power of Serena Williams as the top seed won their quarter-final 6-2 6-2.

Daniela won two matches to reach the quarter-finals of Leipzig, where Justine Henin avenged her US Open defeat 6-4 7-5. Daniela reached her second WTA singles-final at Filderstadt, beating Daja Bedanová 6-2 6-3, Barbara Schett 7-5 6-1, Alexandra Stevenson 6-1 6-2, Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-2, and losing to Kim Clijsters 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the final. Her ranking jumped from #11 to #9, making her the second Slovakian (after Karina Habšudová) ever to reach the top ten.

Daniela reached the quarter-finals of Zürich, beating Janette Husárová 7-6 6-1 and Elena Dementieva 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(6) after saving four match-points (Dementieva led 5-3 40/15 in the second). But her luck ran out as she lost 6-7 6-3 7-6 (7/5) to Patty Schnyder in the quarter-finals. Daniela reached the semi-finals of Linz, beating Barbara Schett 6-1 7-5 and Anna Smashnova (Pistolesi) 6-1 4-6 6-4, but losing 6-4 7-6 to Alexandra Stevenson. She climbed one place to her year-end ranking of #8.

Daniela led Slovakia to win their first Fed Cup. In the first round of the World Group in April, Slovakia beat Switzerland 3:2 (Daniela beat Myriam Casanova 6-4 7-5, lost to Patty Schnyder 6-3 6-3; Daniela and Janette Husárová beat Schnyder and Casanova 6-0 6-7 6-3 to win the deciding doubles-rubber). In the quarter-finals in July, Slovakia beat France 4:1 (Daniela beat Nathalie Dechy 7-5 7-5, and recovered from a break down in the third to beat Amélie Mauresmo 2-6 6-4 6-3).
            In the semi-finals in October, Slovakia beat Italy 3:1 (Daniela lost to Francesca Schiavone 7-6 6-1, and beat Silvia Farina Elia 7-5 6-3). In the final in November (same week as the semi-final), Slovakia beat Spain 3:1 to lift the Fed Cup (Daniela beat Magüi Serna 6-2 6-1, and Conchita Martínez 6-7 7-5 6-4 in 3h21m).

Daniela qualified for the season-ending Home Depot Championships in Los Angeles for the first time, but unfortunately they were held the week after Fed Cup Week III, and Daniela only had three days of rest before she had to face Magdalena Maleeva in the first round, who upset her 6-2 7-5. Daniela also qualified for the season-ending championships in doubles, but had to withdraw because her partner Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario was injured.

In December, Daniela played in the Collins Cup at Dublin, a best-of-seven-rubbers contest between America and Europe to raise money for victims of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Europe lost 1:6, with Daniela losing to Jennifer Capriati 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the final rubber, having lost with Elena Bovina to Serena and Venus Williams 6-1 6-4 to give America an unassailable 4:0 lead. Daniela also took to the catwalk and showed off her legs to the full, making her fellow players and some professional models look very plain and unglamorous in comparison! ;-)

So 2002 was a hugely impressive year - Daniela won the WTA's Most Improved Player award - but she had played too much for her own good, with 25 tournaments (including many doubles-matches), plus three Fed Cup weeks, plus off-season exhibitions. And with a bout of intensive training with Nigel Sears in Cape Town, South Africa to round off the year, all her physical exertions were about to take their toll...

Daniela played Hopman Cup for Slovakia with Dominik Hrbatý. They lost 1:2 to the Czech Republic (Daniela lost to Daja Bedanová 3-6 6-4 6-1), 0:3 to Australia (Daniela lost 6-4 6-2 to Alicia Molik), but restored a modicum of pride by beating Italy 3:0 (Daniela beat Silvia Farina Elia 7-5 6-3).

Daniela beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 6-1 in the second round of Sydney, but was upset(!) by Lindsay Davenport 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/3) in the quarter-finals. Daniela seemed to have lost a lot of weight since the Collins Cup just a month ago, for she looked skeletally thin - though not at all unattractive - in the photos from Sydney.

Daniela reached her third Major quarter-final in a row at the Australian Open, beating Fabiola Zuluaga 7-5 6-7 6-4, Selesian player Adriana Serra-Zanetti 7-6 7-6, Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2 and Patty Schnyder 7-5 6-3. But, as in both previous Major quarter-finals, she was stopped by a Williams sister: this time Venus - whom Daniela had pushed so hard in the third round in 2002 - overpowered her 6-4 6-3. Daniela was below her best, but she did make Williams fight hard for it.
            Daniela said she would have to 'bulk up' before she could compete on equal terms with the Williams sisters. "I think my tennis is there, but sometimes they just hit it so hard I can't do anything about it. I'm doing weights now, but I have to improve."
            Daniela and Kevin Ullyett reached the semi-finals in defence of their mixed-doubles title, but were thrashed 6-3 6-1 by Martina Navrátilová and Leander Paes.
            Daniela's singles-ranking shot up from #8 to a career-high #5 after the Australian Open! World number five!

Daniela beat Maja Matevzic to reach the quarter-finals of Paris, but lost 7-5 6-3 to Elena Dementieva. She reached the semi-finals of Antwerp, beating Els Callens 5-7 6-4 6-3, Nathalie Dechy 7-6 7-6, and losing to Venus Williams 6-1 6-4. It was to be her only semi-final of 2003. :-(

Defending her Indian Wells title, Daniela beat Petra Mandula 6-2 6-3 and Katarina Srebotnik 7-6 6-2, but was upset by Amanda Coetzer 6-4 6-4 in the fourth round. "Last year I had nothing to lose, now everyone else wants to beat me so of course it will be harder this year." She lost her opening match at Miami to Alicia Molik 2-6 7-5 6-0. Her ranking dropped back from #5 to #8 after Indian Wells, and to #9 after Miami.

In the claycourt season, Daniela established a disturbing pattern of winning two tough matches, then suffering a very one-sided loss in her third match. At Charleston she beat Tatiana Panova 6-2 4-6 6-3 and Jill Craybas 7-6 6-3, but lost 6-2 6-1 to seventeen-year-old Ashley Harkleroad in the quarter-finals. At Amelia Island she beat Selesian qualifier Akiko Morigami 7-5 6-2 and Alexandra Stevenson 6-4 3-6 6-2, but lost 6-0 6-1 to Elena Dementieva in the quarters. At Berlin she beat Barbara Schett 6-3 4-6 6-3 and Marie-Gaďané Mikaelian 4-6 6-4 7-6, but lost 6-0 6-3 to top seed Kim Clijsters in the third round.

By now it was all too obvious that Daniela was alarmingly underweight. The media began to lay into her, writing all sorts of insulting comments about her, and even going as far as to suggest that she had anorexia. The truth was that she was simply burning off calories faster than she was taking them in, and making matters worse by playing week-in week-out: between the tournaments mentioned in the above paragraph, she lost her opening match at Warsaw to Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2 6-4, having won two gruelling matches in Slovakia's Fed Cup tie against Germany the previous weekend: Daniela beat Marlene Weingärtner 2-6 7-6 7-5 and Anca Barna 2-6 6-3 6-1; Slovakia won 3:2, but Daniela decided to miss the quarter-final against Belgium in July.

Daniela beat Magüi Serna 7-6 1-6 6-4 at the Italian Open, but lost to four-times champion Conchita Martínez 6-3 6-3 in the third round. At the French Open she beat the gorgeous Alina Jidkova 2-6 6-0 6-1, eating bananas at the changeovers, but lost an epic second-round match to Ashley Harkleroad 7-6 4-6 9-7 (despite fighting back from 1-5 in the third set, and serving for the match at 6-5). "I'm physically fit," stressed Daniela. "I think more than anything the mental side was not right today." Nigel Sears walked out in disgust in the middle of that match, because he could not bear to watch Daniela making so many wanton errors.
            Daniela reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles with Chanda Rubin: they beat Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Navrátilová 6-4 3-6 7-5 in the last sixteen, Elena Bovina and Alicia Molik 6-3 6-1 in the quarter-finals, and lost 6-2 7-6 to top seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez in the semis.

At Eastbourne, Daniela continued to attract attention for the wrong reasons as she practised in a very minimalistic two-piece outfit that exposed her ribs and spine (I was there, and so were the tabloid photographers). She beat Alexandra Stevenson 7-6 6-4, but in the quarter-finals she struggled to cope with extremely windy conditions and the exaggerated spins of Conchita Martínez, and lost 6-2 6-3.

Daniela played magnificently to beat Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-1 in the first round of Wimbledon, and to win the first set 6-0 against Shinobu Asagoe in the second round. But what followed was heart-breaking and traumatic: Daniela lost the second set 6-4, choked on a 5-2 lead with three match-points in the third, and eventually lost it 12-10. She started to cry when she missed her first match-point at 5-3 Ad, and by 5-5 she was in floods of tears.
            Daniela's mental and emotional problems were, in my estimation, partly due to the pressures of being a top-ten player (such high expectations, and everyone wanting to beat you), partly due to the media-criticism of her weight-loss (having to defend herself in every interview, and perhaps being oversensitive to her image), and partly because she's so ambitious that it was especially hard for her to come to terms with her career going downhill.
            In 2004, Daniela revealed the main reason for her emotional fragility and weight-loss in 2003: the break-up of her parents' marriage. Daniela really lost her appetite during this difficult and tragic period, and was burdened with having to keep it secret from the media while they grilled her about her weight and diet. But it was only a matter of time until rumours leaked out to the public, and Daniela would finally break her silence in September 2004.

After taking a month off after Wimbledon, Daniela continued to struggle, losing 6-2 6-4 to Amy Frazier in the first round of Stanford. At San Diego she battled back from a set down, saving a match-point, to beat Katarina Srebotnik 3-6 7-5 7-6, but was thrashed 6-1 6-3 by Nadia Petrova in the second round. At Toronto she routed Jill Craybas 6-1 6-2, only to suffer a humiliating 6-2 6-0 defeat by Paola Suárez in the second round. She lost her opening match at New Haven to Cara Black 6-3 6-2 - "I was trying to do the right things, but I just didn't make the shots I needed to."

Daniela beat Marion Bartoli for the loss of five games in the first round of the US Open, just as she had done at Wimbledon. History seemed to be repeating itself in the second round too: as she won the first set 6-0 against an ultra-defensive Julia Vakulenko, her eyes welled up with tears when she missed a match-point at 5-4 in the second, but she held on for a 6-0 7-6 victory - the first time she had won two singles-matches in a row since Berlin. "I lost a little bit my rhythm in the second set, so I am definitely relieved."
            Daniela lost 6-2 6-4 to Tamarine Tanasugarn in an error-strewn third-round match, and Tanasugarn's premature victory-celebrations when she held for 5-3 in the second probably did nothing to help Daniela's emotional state. Daniela dropped out of the top ten to #14.

Daniela played a lighter tournament-schedule in the autumn, and looked to be winning her weight-battle, but sadly the damage to her form and confidence could not be undone so easily. She beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5 6-2 in the first round of Leipzig but lost in the second round to Patty Schnyder 6-4 4-6 7-6 - choking on a 5-2 lead in the third.

Daniela played very well in beating Lisa Raymond 6-3 6-4 in the first round of Filderstadt, but was thoroughly beaten by world number one Kim Clijsters in the second round, 6-1 6-1. She finished the year with two first-round losses: 7-6 7-5 to Paola Suárez at Zürich, and 6-4 6-1 to Jelena Dokic at Linz. At least she would have two clear months off at the end of the year, which she finished with a ranking of #19.

In November it was reported that Daniela had parted company with Nigel Sears (he claimed that it was his decision), and in December that she had appointed Harold Solomon as her new coach. She also hired fitness-trainer Marian Gejdos in December.

In terms of results, 2004 was not a successful year by Daniela's standards, as she continued to struggle for form and confidence. However, she put her emotional problems of 2003 behind her to emerge as a stronger, more philosophical person than before, and a much happier one than in 2003. She also won her weight-battle: after actually looking a little overweight in June, by October she looked as healthy and sexy as ever.

January felt to me like a miserable month for Daniela, even though she and Karol Kucera took Slovakia to the final of the Hopman Cup. Daniela was crushed 6-1 6-2 by Kim Clijsters as Slovakia lost 0:3 to Belgium. She lost 6-0 7-6 to Petra Mandula, though Slovakia recovered to beat Hungary 2:1 (Daniela and Karol beat Mandula and Attila Savolt 6-3 6-1 in the deciding mixed-doubles rubber).
            Daniela was losing 6-3 3-0 to Alicia Molik when the latter retired with a foot-injury. Australia also had to forfeit the mixed doubles, handing Slovakia a 2:1 victory, then Slovakia were promoted to the final when Australia - who had already qualified - withdrew.
            Daniela lost 6-3 6-1 to Lindsay Davenport in the opening rubber of the Slovakia v USA final. Karol beat James Blake to make it 1:1, but the American pair won 2:1 by beating Daniela and Karol 6-2 6-3 in the mixed doubles. So Daniela was unable to emulate Karina Habšudová's feat of winning the Hopman Cup for Slovakia with Kucera in 1998.

Daniela suffered a 6-2 6-2 loss to Lina Krasnoroutskaya in the first round of Sydney, and dropped from #18 to #21 in the rankings. She beat Selesian player Adriana Serra Zanetti 7-6 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open, but a rematch against Alicia Molik in the second round was always going to be tough. Daniela led 4-1 (with one break of serve) in the first set, but Molik fought back to win 6-4 6-3 as Daniela's confidence visibly drained away. Her ranking plunged to #32.

Daniela drew Molik again in the first round of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open... and won WTA Win of the Week by beating her 6-1 6-7 7-5! "It was very important for me. Alicia was sort of becoming a nightmare for me."
            In the second round, Daniela scored a highly impressive 7-6 6-1 win over Maria Sharapova, the 16-year-old Russian who had just overtaken her in the rankings and would go on to win Wimbledon! Sadly, Daniela was then beaten 6-2 6-2 by an on-form Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals.

In Paris, Daniela drew Sandrine Testud, who was attempting a comeback in 2004 having "retired" after Wimbledon 2002 to become a mother. Daniela was leading 5-3 when Testud retired with an abdominal injury. Ironically, Daniela then had to pull out of the tournament because she had a really bad cold that prevented her from breathing properly, thus missing out on a mouthwatering match with the gorgeous Tatiana Golovin.

Harold Solomon's appointment had only been on a trial basis; after Tokyo, Daniela decided against appointing him as her permanent coach, and they parted company. By the end of February, she had reappointed Nigel Sears after persuading him of her commitment to tennis after all the off-court issues of 2003.

Daniela returned to action at Indian Wells - the scene of her great triumph in 2002 - and lost her opening match 6-4 6-7 7-6 to Marissa Irvin, a qualifier ranked outside the top 100. Miami was more encouraging, as Daniela defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 3-6 6-0, and played some of her best tennis in the first set against Venus Williams before bowing out 7-6 6-2.

Moving onto the red clay of Europe with her ranking down to #45, Daniela struggled past Selesian player María Sánchez Lorenzo 6-7 6-3 6-3 in the first round of Warsaw, then lost 6-4 7-5 to the wall that is Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi. Daniela then suffered 6-2 6-2 first-round losses to Patty Schnyder at Berlin and to rising Croatian talent Karolina Šprem at Rome.

Desperate to repair the damage, Daniela made a late entry into Vienna, where she beat Silvija Talaja 4-6 6-3 6-1, then had a recurrence of her "nightmare" against Alicia Molik, who beat her 7-6 6-3.

Daniela drew Shinobu Asagoe - the perpetrator of her tearful and traumatic Wimbledon 2003 defeat - in the first round of the French Open, and balls were hitting the back fence on the full as Daniela lost 6-1 6-3. However, she did make up for this to some extent by reaching the semi-finals of the mixed doubles with Todd Woodbridge. But she dropped out of the top 50 to #54.

Daniela made a late entry into Birmingham - prompting me to attend the tournament myself! I arrived at the grounds just as Daniela was called to play her first-round match, and watched her score an easy 6-3 6-1 victory over Yoon Jeong Cho. But Daniela had picked up a nasty respiratory infection in Paris, and just as at Paris in February, it ruined what should have been a mouthwatering second-round match with Tatiana Golovin. Unable to breathe or move properly, Daniela retired in front of me at 0-6 1-3 down. :-(

After spending two days in bed, Daniela bounced back to reach the final of Eastbourne with wins over four players who went on to do major damage at Wimbledon: Amy Frazier 7-5 3-6 6-2, Karolina Šprem 6-3 2-6 6-4, third seed Ai Sugiyama 6-1 7-6, and top seed Amélie Mauresmo 4-6 6-4 6-4!
            Daniela made a blazing start to the final against US Open champ-to-be Svetlana Kuznetsova, and at 6-2 6-5 up she served for what would have been her first title since Indian Wells 2002. But Kuznetsova proved to have the stronger nerve as she thwarted Daniela's talent to win 2-6 7-6 6-4. Daniela's ranking rose from #54 to #38.

From what I saw of Daniela on TV at Eastbourne and Wimbledon, she was playing very cautiously compared with her go-for-broke approach of previous years, and taking a lot of time between points. She beat Samantha Reeves 6-1 6-4 in the first round of Wimbledon, but I can't honestly say it was a very exciting match, as Daniela seemed content to just stroke the ball around, and went to sleep in the second set.
            Daniela had a walkover to the third round when Elena Bovina withdrew with an abdominal strain, then ran into red-hot Maria Sharapova - the eventual champion of course. Maria seemed to be in a zone where she was seeing the ball in slow motion as she stormed past Daniela 6-3 6-1 with an awesome display of power-hitting.

Daniela then settled into a pattern which would haunt her for seven of her next ten tournaments: winning in the first round but losing in the second. At Los Angeles she beat Cara Black but lost to Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi. At San Diego she beat Marissa Irvin but lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova. At Montréal she beat Emilie Loit but lost to Ai Sugiyama.

Daniela had the honour of representing Slovakia at the Athens Olympics. It was great to see her in the opening ceremony. In the first round she thrashed Luxembourg's flag-bearer Claudine Schaul 6-1 6-1. In the second round she lost to Patty Schnyder 3-6 6-1 6-4 in a match with several momentum-shifts.

Daniela reached the quarter-finals of New Haven, beating Lindsay Lee-Waters 7-6 7-5 and Marissa Irvin 7-5 4-6 6-3. But she lost 6-4 6-3 to Lisa Raymond. Her ranking, which had been gradually rising throughout the hardcourt season, now reached #32.

At the US Open, Daniela recovered from an embarrassing 1-6 0-2 scoreline against lucky loser Camille Pin to win their first-round match 1-6 7-6 7-6 (11/9) after both girls had served for the match and squandered two match-points each in the third-set tiebreak.
            In the second round, Daniela beat Alicia Molik 6-4 6-3, producing one of her best performances of the year to recover from 2-4 in the first. "It was much easier for me - I was the one with nothing to lose."
            As at the Olympics, it was Patty Schnyder who stopped Daniela, winning their third-round encounter 6-4 4-6 7-6 (8/6) after Daniela had led 4-2 in the third, served for the match at 5-3, had a match-point on Schyder's serve at 5/6 30/40, and led 5/2 in the tiebreak with two match-points at 6/4.

At Filderstadt, Daniela beat Lilia Osterloh, but lost to Jelena Jankovic. At Moscow she lost to Elena Bovina in the first round. At Zürich, Daniela beat Vera Douchevina 6-1 6-4 in the first round, and put up terrific resistance against Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova before bowing out 6-4 7-5. Daniela led 5-2 in the second set, served for it at 5-3, and had two set-points on Maria's serve at 4-5 15/40. Daniela's ranking jumped from #35 to #30 that week, before settling at #31 unto the end of the year.

At Linz, Daniela struggled past lucky loser Lindsay Lee-Waters 2-6 6-3 6-2, and was then thrashed 6-2 6-1 by Ai Sugiyama in the second round. And her season ended on a low note as she lost her opening match at Québec to unknown 17-year-old qualifier Melanie Gloria 6-3 2-6 6-1. "I seem to have a hard time when I'm playing matches where I should win. This is something I need to work on next season."

Playing with a feistier attitude, Daniela enjoyed her best season since 2002, reaching one final and three other semi-finals. She showed signs of an improved match-playing temperament, not wasting as many of her opportunities as she did in 2004. Although her second singles-title continued to elude her, she won two WTA doubles-titles.

But it was in mixed doubles that she really excelled: she won the Hopman Cup for Slovakia with Dominik Hrbatý, and then completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open with Fabrice Santoro, and the US Open with Mahesh Bhupathi!

Slovakia's Hopman Cup campaign got off to a bad start as they lost their opening tie 1:2 to Australia (Daniela lost 6-3 6-3 to Alicia Molik; Daniela/Dominik Hrbatý lost 6-7 6-3 (11/9) to Molik/Mark Philippoussis). But they came through the round-robin stage by beating the United States of America 2:1 (Daniela beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4 6-2) and the Netherlands 3:0 (Daniela beat Michaëlla Krajícek 6-4 6-2, then Peter Wessels retired with a chest-muscle injury).
            This set up a mouthwatering final with Argentina. Daniela put Slovakia 1-0 up with a 1-6 6-4 6-4 victory over beautiful Gisela Dulko. Dominik sealed Slovakia's second Hopman Cup title with a 6-4 6-1 win over Guillermo Coria, who then gave Slovakia a walkover in the dead mixed-doubles rubber.

Daniela got off to a winning start on the WTA Tour, beating Silvija Talaja 7-6 6-2 in the first round of Sydney. But she suffered a crushing 6-0 6-2 defeat to the manly Nadia Petrova in the second round.

At the Australian Open, Daniela opened with a 6-4 7-5 win over Selesian player Akiko Morigami, then sent Barbara Schett into retirement with a 6-4 6-0 win in the second round. In the third round, Daniela lost to sixth seed Elena Dementieva 7-5 5-7 6-4 in a 2h43m marathon. She also reached the quarter-finals of the women's doubles with Martina Navrátilová.
            Daniela moved up from #31 to #29 in the rankings.

At the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, Daniela scored wins over two dainty Russians: Alina Jidkova 6-1 6-4 and Maria Kirilenko 4-6 6-0 6-2. But their compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova is built like a tank, and edged Daniela 7-6 7-6.

At Doha, Daniela reached her first semi-final since Eastbourne 2004, beating Magdalena Maleeva 4-6 6-4 6-3 (after trailing 0-3 in the third set), sixth seed Elena Bovina 6-0 3-6 6-3, and Conchita Martínez 6-4 6-1. She lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-4 in the semis.
            Doha boosted Daniela's ranking from #28 to #22 (over the next four months it would oscillate between #21 and #25 due to the movements of other players).

Daniela's rich vein of form continued at Dubai, where she beat her old nemesis, sixth seed Alicia Molik 7-6 6-2, and Elena Likhovtseva 7-5 6-4 in the second round. She lost 6-4 6-3 to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.

But the bubble burst when she went to America: at Indian Wells she struggled past Anne Kremer 4-6 6-3 7-5 in her opening match, then crashed out 6-3 6-2 to Fabiola Zuluaga in the third round. At Miami she lost her opening match 7-6 6-2 to lucky loser Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro.

After taking a month off, Daniela kicked off her claycourt season with a 6-4 7-5 win over Karolina Kosinska at Warsaw. She lost 6-4 4-6 6-3 to Elena Bovina in the second round. This was followed by two first-round losses: 6-4 6-4 to Gisela Dulko at Berlin, and at Rome she suffered an embarrassing 6-1 6-2 loss to #110-ranked qualifier Sanda Mamic.

Daniela bucked up her ideas for the French Open, beating 16-year-old Michaëlla Krajícek 6-3 6-1 and Catalina Castańo 6-4 6-3. But she completed a Grand Slam of third-round exits by losing 6-4 6-2 to 14th seed Kim Clijsters, who was in the middle of an astonishing resurgence having missed most of 2004 with a career-threatening wrist-injury.
            Daniela won the third Major title of her career as she and Selesian wizard Fabrice Santoro teamed up to win the mixed doubles, beating Bryanne Stewart/Todd Perry 6-2 6-4, top seeds Rennae Stubbs/Daniel Nestor 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 6-3, Liezel Huber/Kevin Ullyett 6-2 4-6 6-1, Anastasia Myskina/Jonas Björkman 7-6 (7/5) 6-0 and, in the final, sixth seeds Martina Navrátilová and Leander Paes 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Playing in front of Yours Truly, Daniela suffered a heartbreaking 6-4 6-7 7-6 (7/5) loss to Selesian player Arantxa Parra Santonja in the first round of Birmingham. Mixing brilliance with elementary errors, Daniela lost despite leading 4-2 in the first set and 3-1 in the third. Daniela's technical abilities were in very good nick, but sadly her ability to handle the pressure of a singles-match on her favourite surface was not. She won the doubles-title with her regular doubles-partner of that time, Ai Sugiyama, beating Eleni Daniilidou and Jennifer Russell 6-2 6-3 in the final.

Daniela's grasscourt-preparations for Wimbledon took an even worse blow at Eastbourne, where she failed to defend her runner's-up points from 2004 by losing 6-2 4-6 6-4 to lucky loser María Vento-Kabchi in the first round; her ranking slipped from #22 to #28.

But Daniela got her act together for Wimbledon itself, beating Evgenia Linetskaya 3-6 6-2 6-2 in the first round, and then Shahar Peer 6-2 2-6 6-3 in my favourite match of the 2005 Championships - notwithstanding her second-set walkabout, Daniela played brilliant, flairsome tennis.
            In the third round, Daniela lost 7-5 6-3 to 14th seed Venus Williams, the champion of 2000 and 2001 whose ranking had dipped due to loss of form and motivation, but who caught fire at Wimbledon 2005 and went on to win the title (Daniela has lost to the eventual champion at every main-draw Wimbledon of her career except 2003). Daniela held her own against Williams until she led 5-5 40/0 in the first set, when she served a double fault; suddenly her bubble burst and she lost six games in a row.
            She also made the quarter-finals of the women's doubles with Ai Sugiyama.

Daniela embarked on a hectic and highly successful North American hardcourt-season by reaching the semi-finals of Cincinnati, beating Lilia Osterloh 6-1 6-2, Chanda Rubin 6-2 7-5 and Yoon Jeong Cho 6-7 6-4 6-1. But, with her second singles-title in sight, she lost to on-form Selesian player Akiko Morigami 6-4 6-4.

At Stanford she beat Alexandra Stevenson 6-2 6-1 and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4 3-6 6-1, but in the quarter-finals she suffered a dispapsinating 6-3 6-1 loss to Kim Clijsters - the player who dominated hard courts in 2005 with a 50-4 win/loss record on the surface.
            At San Diego, Daniela beat Maria Kirilenko 7-6 6-1, but lost 7-5 4-6 6-2 to her doubles-partner, Ai Sugiyama.

Daniela played her best tournament of the year at Los Angeles, beating Angela Haynes 4-6 6-1 6-2 and Kateryna Bondarenko 6-4 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, where she was due to face Maria Sharapova.
            Sadly, Maria pulled out of that match with the right pectoral-muscle strain that ruined the second half of her season, giving Daniela a walkover to the semi-finals, but Daniela earned her place in the final with a superb 6-3 6-4 victory over third seed Elena Dementieva. "When I was under pressure, I managed to hang in the points and it gave me a lot of confidence."
            Unfortunately Daniela ran into Clijsters again, who beat her 6-4 6-1 in the final. "I lost my head," she admitted.

At Toronto, playing for the fifth week in a row, Daniela was serving at 4-6 6-4 4-4 (40/15) against Alina Jidkova when she retired with heat-illness (it was only 25°C - tennis-players are used to much hotter temperatures) and had to be wheeled off court in a golf-cart.

Nevertheless, Daniela decided that the first week of the US Open would be her seventh in a row, by playing New Haven. She beat Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-4 6-2, then scored a 5-7 6-2 6-4 upset over her 2004 nemesis Patty Schnyder, the sixth seed. In the quarter-finals, she lost 6-2 7-6 to Lindsay Davenport, who went on to win the title and regain the #1 ranking from Maria Sharapova.
            Daniela's own ranking had been rising steadily from #26 immediately after Wimbledon, and on 29th August she returned to the top 20 for the first time since January 2004 - at #19.

At the US Open, Daniela had a repeat of her 2004 first round against Camille Pin, but this time she made much shorter work of it, winning 6-3 6-1. In the second round she scored the most one-sided victory of her career, beating María Emilia Salerni 6-1 6-0 in extremely windy conditions.
            But then she ran into Venus Williams again, who beat her 6-3 6-3. It was the sixth Major in a row where Daniela had lost in the third round.
            Daniela completed a career Grand Slam by winning the mixed-doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi. They beat Sun,Tiantian and Simon Aspelin 4-6 6-3 (11/9) after saving a match-point in the super tiebreak, then beat Lisa Raymond/Jonas Björkman 6-2 7-6 (7/3), Ai Sugiyama/Kevin Ullyett 7-5 6-2, Corina Morariu/Mike Bryan 7-6 (7/4) 7-5, and Katarina Srebotnik/Nenad Zimonjic 6-4 6-2 in the final.
            "I'm so happy right now," said Daniela. "This was the last one I was missing, and finally I got it - thanks to an unbelievable partner on my side. It means a lot to me."

Moving on to the European indoor hardcourts, Daniela reached the quarter-finals of Luxembourg. She survived a scare against Anabel Medina Garrigues, winning 6-7 7-6 6-0 after saving two match-points on her serve at 5-6 in the second set. She beat the ultracute Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 6-1 in the second round (Daniela let a *4-0 lead become 4-4 in the first set, remarkably losing her serve from 40/0 up at 4-2), but then turned in one of her worst performances of the year in losing 6-1 6-4 to Nathalie Dechy.

At Filderstadt, Daniela reached her fourth semi-final and won her second WTA doubles-title of the year. She beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4 6-0, continued her surprising 2005 ownership of Patty Schnyder 6-4 6-3, beat the beautiful Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-4, but lost 6-4 6-3 to top seed Lindsay Davenport in the semis.
            She won the doubles-title with Anastasia Myskina, beating Kveta Peschke and Francesca Schiavone 6-0 3-6 7-5 in the final.
            Daniela's singles-ranking rose from #20 to #17 - her highest of 2005 - although two weeks later it would slip back to #20.

At Zürich, Daniela beat Ai Sugiyama 1-6 7-5 6-4 to set up a second-round match against Lindsay Davenport, who would regain the #1 ranking (again) the following week by beating Daniela.
            Daniela served for the match at 6-3 5-4, with two match-points at 40/15. But Davenport saved the first with a backhand volley-winner, Daniela muffed the second by hitting a forehand long, and Davenport went on to win 3-6 7-5 6-2. "Saving those two match-points against Daniela Hantuchová on Thursday proved to be the turning-point," said Davenport after winning the title.
            Daniela missed four more match-points in the doubles-final, which she and Ai Sugiyama lost 6-7 7-6 6-3 to Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs. Daniela and Ai led 7-6 5-2, served for the title at 5-3, and squandered those four championship-points at 5-4.

At Linz, Daniela survived a massive scare against Klára Koukalová before winning 6-4 6-7 7-6 (11/9). Daniela recovered from 2-4* and *4-5 in the third set, then saved two match-points in the tiebreak.
            In the second round, Daniela was leading 2-6 6-0 3-1 when Conchita Martínez retired with a sprained wrist. The 33-year-old confirmed in April 2006 that this had been the last singles-match of her career.
            In the quarter-finals, Daniela lost 6-2 6-1 to Patty Schnyder, who claimed to have played "perfect tennis".

Daniela ended her season by withdrawing from Québec with a right-shoulder strain, and she finished the year ranked #19.

This year was somewhat of a curate's egg for Daniela. On the one hand, she reached her first Major fourth round since the Australian Open 2003 by knocking defending champion Serena Williams out in the third round of the Australian Open, and also reached fourth rounds at the French Open and Wimbledon. But in 16 of her 25 tournaments, she failed to win more than one singles-match, and Serena's revenge in the second round of the US Open started a nasty pattern of Daniela letting 5-2 leads turn into 7-5 6-2 defeats or similar. But she did finish the year positively by reaching the final of Zürich, and although she failed yet again to add to her lone WTA singles-title of Indian Wells 2002, she did win two more WTA doubles-titles (at Doha and Rome), as well as being runner-up in women's doubles at the French Open.

Daniela started 2006 by reaching the semi-finals of Auckland with wins over Yulia Beygelzimer (2-6 6-3 6-2), Jill Craybas (6-3 6-1) and Tzipora Obziler (7-5 3-6 7-5). But that three-set marathon seemed to exhaust her as she was thrashed 6-2 6-2 by Vera Zvonarëva - another player who is brilliant but inconsistent. The semi-final elevated Daniela's ranking from #19 to #17.

Daniela's next tournament was Sydney. She started with a 6-4 2-6 6-2 win over Sania Mirza, then upset world #8 Patty Schnyder 3-6 6-4 6-4. This set up a mouthwatering quarter-final with Nicole Vaidišová, but unfortunately it was ruined by Daniela having to retire with gastrointestinal illness when serving at 3-6 1-3 (0/30).

The Australian Open saw Daniela reach her first Major fourth round since the Australian Open 2003. She overcame a tooth-infection to beat Saori Obata 3-6 6-3 6-0, then scored a routine 6-4 6-1 victory over big-hitting Akgul Amanmuradova. This set up an intriguing third-round encounter with Serena Williams, who was desperately out of shape, having been sidelined since September 2005 with a knee-injury. Daniela thrashed the defending champion 6-1 7-6 (7/5)! "I had so many matches where I was close to beating the top players, and finally I did it," said Daniela.
            This set up a mouthwatering fourth-round match with the great Maria Sharapova. Daniela put up a confident performance with some spectacular winners, but Maria played better in the decisive moments to win 6-4 6-4. "I thought she was a great returner," said Maria.
            Daniela moved up to #15 in the rankings.

At the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, Daniela recovered from 2-6 0-2 to beat Jelena Jankovic (who also led 3-0 and 4-2 in the third set) 2-6 6-4 6-4. But she lost 7-6 6-2 to Samantha Stosur in the second round. Nevertheless, she moved up to #14 in the rankings as Svetlana Kuznetsova failed to defend points from 2005.

At Antwerp, Daniela steamrollered Zuzana Ondrášková 6-1 6-0, then suffered a shocking 6-4 6-3 loss to world #115 Olga Savchuk in the second round. And she suffered another second-round loss at Dubai, first beating Li,Na 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7/4), then losing 3-6 6-1 7-5 to Svetlana Kuznetsova, who at #15 was ranked one place lower than Daniela at the time, but would finish 2006 ranked #4. Kuznetsova and Daniela swapped places in the rankings, moving Daniela back down to #15.

At Doha, Daniela let Kveta Peschke recover from a set and a break down as she stuttered to a 7-6 5-7 6-1 win in 2h48m, so it was not surprising that she lost 4-6 7-6 6-1 to Li,Na the next day - except that she led 6-4 5-1 and had four match-points! Daniela won her seventh WTA doubles-title as she and Ai Sugiyama beat Australian Open champions Yan,Zi and Zheng,Jie 3-6 6-2 6-0 in the semi-finals, and Olympic champions Li,Ting and Sun,Tiantian 6-4 6-4 in the final.

And it was the same old 'one win, one loss' story at Miami (albeit after a first-round bye), where Daniela let slip a 6-3 3-1* lead before beating Zuzana Ondrášková 6-3 5-7 6-3, then lost to Eleni Daniilidou - always a dangerous floater - 6-3 4-6 6-2. Daniela saw her ranking drop one place to #16 on 10th April.

In Fed Cup play, Queen Daniela and her two lovely handmaidens - Magdaléna Rybáriková and Dominika Cibulková - steered Slovakia to victory in the round-robin section of the Europe/Africa Zone Group I, beating Luxembourg 3:0 (Daniela beat Anne Kremer 6-3 6-3), Netherlands 2:1 (Daniela beat Michaëlla Krajícek 4-6 7-6 6-2) and Finland 3:0 (Daniela didn't play).
            Slovakia then beat Great Britain 2:1 (Daniela beat Anne Keothavong 6-2 6-1) in a promotion play-off to earn a place in the World Group II play-offs in July.

On 25th April - three days after the Slovakia v GB tie - it was announced that Daniela had sacked her British coach Nigel Sears. Daniela said, "I'm really thankful for all his effort, and all the knowledge that he's been trying to bring into my game, and I will always appreciate it. It's been great working with him, but I thought it was time to move on, and go in a different direction in order to take my tennis to the next level."
            Daniela started working with a variety of coaches at the Sánchez/Casal academy in Barcelona, including Angel Jiménez and Eduardo Nicolás, and trainer Marco Panichi. It is believed that she wanted to add more topspin to her groundstrokes, in order to give herself a greater margin of error.

Daniela kicked off her claycourt-season at Warsaw, and it was a tale of two Annas: Daniela edged past the veteran counterpuncher Anna Smashnova 4-6 7-5 6-3 - after Smashnova had led 6-4 5-3 - then Daniela lost 6-4 6-3 to the ultracute Anna Chakvetadze, who is one of the brightest rising stars in women's tennis.

Berlin was the seventh 'win one, lose one' WTA tournament in a row for Daniela, as she beat Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 0-6 6-1, but lost 6-3 6-2 to Dinara Safina (who went on to have a very impressive claycourt-season, with wins over Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova).

And at Rome, Daniela didn't even get her one win, as she lost 6-2 1-6 6-3 to dangerous floater Samantha Stosur in the first round, and dropped to #17 in the rankings. But Daniela won her eighth WTA doubles-title as she and Ai Sugiyama scored a stunning 6-4 6-0 win over Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs in the semi-finals, and beat Kveta Peschke and Francesca Schiavone 3-6 6-3 6-1 in the final.

Daniela was going through another lean period - not just metaphorically, but physically. Her legs were as sexy as ever, but her arms looked so thin. She dropped to #18 in the 29th May update of the rankings.

But once again, Daniela peaked for a Major as she reached the fourth round of the French Open for the first time since 2002. She beat Lourdes Domínguez Lino 6-1 6-4, then scored a scrappy 3-6 6-2 6-3 win against Emmanuelle Gagliardi in a match with more breaks than holds of serve.
            Daniela then overcame Nathalie Dechy 6-3 3-6 10-8 in a high-quality third-round match by both players. Daniela blew a 5-2* lead in the third set, and had to survive Dechy serving for the match at 7-6 before finally emerging victorious. But the crazy schedule dictated that Daniela play second seed Kim Clijsters less than 25 hours after that 2h35m marathon, and she slumped to a lacklustre 6-1 6-4 defeat.
            Daniela and Ai Sugiyama were runners-up in the women's doubles, with notable wins over Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 6-1 7-6 in the quarter-finals, and Yan,Zi and Zheng,Jie 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the semi-finals. They lost the final 6-3 6-2 to top seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs.

Daniela pulled out of Birmingham with a wrist-injury, then looked very rusty as she lost 6-4 7-6 to Elena Likhovtseva in a poor-quality first-round match at Eastbourne.

But she got her act together to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon - her third consecutive Major fourth round - starting with a 6-4 4-6 6-1 win over beautiful Maria Elena Camerin after an overnight rain-delay at 4-3* in the first set.
            This set up a dangerous second-round match against Jamea Jackson, who had beaten Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals of Birmingham! Daniela looked so unconfident, but Jackson was surprisingly passive, and I was very grateful for some cheap errors at the critical moments of a 6-3 4-6 7-5 win for Daniela.
            Daniela beat Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 7-6 with a much more impressive performance in the third round, but then slumped to a very disappointing 6-3 6-1 loss to eventual finalist Justine Henin-Hardenne. Daniela moved back up to #17 in the rankings.

In a Fed Cup World Group II play-off, Slovakia whitewashed Thailand 5:0. Daniela trounced Montinee Tangphong 6-1 6-1, Magdaléna Rybáriková beat Suchanun Viratprasert 6-3 6-3, and Daniela beat Viratprasert 6-1 6-3 to give Slovakia an unassailable 3:0 lead and a place in World Group II for 2007.

Unfortunately, Daniela injured her right foot during the Fed Cup tie, and had to pull out of Cincinnati. She returned to action at Stanford, but lost in the first round: 6-2 0-6 6-3 to Shenay Perry.

Daniela's San Diego campaign was rather more successful, as she advanced to the second round when, with Daniela leading 6-1 4-0, Kveta Peschke retired with a right-thigh injury. Daniela then avenged her Antwerp defeat by beating Olga Savchuk 6-2 6-4 to set up a mouthwatering third-round match with Nicole Vaidišová. Daniela squandered all 7 of her break-points as Nicole converted 3 of 4 to win 6-4 6-2. Nicole served 16 aces!

At Los Angeles, where Daniela had reached the final in 2005, she opened with a second-round 7-6 6-2 win over Lisa Raymond in which she hit eight aces! But in the third round she ran into Serena Williams - on the comeback-trail after Daniela had routed her 6-1 7-6 at the Australian Open. A repeat seemed on the cards as Daniela again took the first set 6-1, but Williams - looking much fitter than she did in January - regrouped to take the next two sets 6-3 6-3. Daniela started a war of words in the press-room when she accused Williams of taking an unnecessary time-out to have her ankle taped at the end of the first set.
            Daniela dropped to #18 in the rankings.

At Montréal, Daniela avenged her Berlin 2005 defeat with a 6-2 6-0 drubbing of the adorable Gisela Dulko. And she repeated her Wimbledon win over dangerous Jamea Jackson, this time 7-6 6-2. In the third round, Daniela had three set-points as Martina Hingis served at 4-5 (0/40), but ended up losing 7-5 6-4. Daniela admitted that it had taken her "way too long" to get over those missed opportunities.

At New Haven, Daniela beat Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6-3 6-7 6-4, but she wasted four match-points on Grönefeld's serve at 5-6 (including 0/40) in the second set. And once again, she paid the price for letting her first-round match go the distance as she lost 6-2 5-7 6-0 to Elena Dementieva the next day.

Daniela started her US Open campaign with a 7-5 6-3 win over Bethanie Mattek - after letting a 5-1* lead become 5-5*. She was very unlucky to draw unseeded former champion Serena Williams in the second round, but the way she let a 5-2* lead turn into a 7-5 6-3 loss, established a pattern that was to haunt her for her next two tournaments.
            Daniela dropped to #19 in the rankings.

In the first round of Bali, Daniela let a 5-2* lead turn into a 7-5 6-2 loss to Melinda Czink - a journeywoman ranked #84. Daniela admitted, "I was thinking about that [US Open] match during this one. It's tough for me to change that kind of thinking under match-pressure."

At Luxembourg, Daniela surprised me with a 7-6 6-3 win over in-form Tatiana Golovin - although once again, she couldn't serve out the first set at 5-3. But the by-now-all-too-familiar story resumed in the second round, as she let a 5-3* lead turn into a 7-5 6-3 loss to Dinara Safina.

Daniela seemed to turn a corner at Stuttgart. After labouring past qualifier Sybille Banner 6-3 5-7 6-3, she avenged the previous week's defeat at Luxembourg with a stunning 6-2 6-2 victory over new world #10 Dinara Safina to reach the quarter-finals, where she lost 6-2 6-4 to eventual champion Nadia Petrova. Thus failing to defend her semi-final at Filderstadt 2005, she dropped from #19 to #22 in the rankings.

At Zürich, Daniela reached her first singles-final since Los Angeles 2005 - and her first in a Tier I since winning Indian Wells 2002. She started with a 6-2 7-5 win over a lethargic world #8 Patty Schnyder, with whom she has had a lot of trouble in the past, but whom she has beaten four times out of five since losing to her at the US Open 2004. Schnyder said, "She is one of my most difficult opponents."
            Daniela also defied a losing head-to-head to beat Ai Sugiyama in 7-6 6-2 the second round - she had only beaten Sugiyama twice in six previous meetings.
            Injured top seed Amélie Mauresmo gave Daniela a walkover to the semi-finals, and the day off seemed to do Daniela good as she produced a spectacular performance of flairsome power to dominate world #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 6-2 in the semis.
            This set up a mouthwatering final with US Open champion Maria Sharapova, although it looked set to be an embarrassing one for Daniela as she dropped the first set 6-1. But she dug deep, absorbed Maria's powerful, deep, low-bouncing groundstrokes exceptionally well, and hit some lovely touch-volleys as she won the second set 6-4 by dint of a break in the first game; Daniela saved five break-points as she served it out at 5-4! That stopped a 12-set winning-streak for Maria. Daniela hung in well in the third set, but a break in the fourth game was enough for Maria to secure a 6-1 4-6 6-3 victory - her 12th in a winning-streak that would extend to 19 matches.
            Daniela rose from #22 to #16 in the rankings.

Daniela had sustained a right-rib injury when Mary Pierce hit her with a hard forehand in a first-round doubles-match at Zürich (where Daniela and Ai Sugiyama went on to reach the semi-finals). Although it hadn't stopped Daniela reaching the Zürich singles-final, it flared up in the first round of Linz, where she was forced to retire at 3-4* down to the beautiful and sexy Elena Vesnina. The injury was much more serious than first thought, and Daniela had to go to hospital with internal bleeding, water in her lungs, and serious respiration-problems! But she's out of danger now, and should be fine for the start of the 2007 season.

For failing to defend her quarter-final from Linz 2005, Daniela dropped to #17 in the rankings, and Selesian Marion Bartoli's title at Québec City the following week meant that Daniela finished the WTA season at #18 - she actually climbed to #17 on 18th December as Marion's points for winning ITF Dubai 2005 came off! Either way, 2006 was the second-best year of Daniela's career so far in terms of year-end ranking.

Daniela enjoyed what I consider to be the best year of her career - by a narrow margin over 2002. Both years were highlighted by her winning the Indian Wells title (the whale) and breaking into the top 10 (#8 in 2002, #9 in 2007). For me, the clincher is that in 2007, she also won Linz when she had to to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships, and made two losing final-appearances as opposed to one in 2002. On the other hand, in 2002 she reached two Major quarter-finals and led Slovakia to Fed Cup victory, while the best she had to show at the Majors of 2007 were two fourth-round appearances.

But most importantly, she showed improved mental strength in 2007 - not just the unscarred confidence of a teenager, but a more mature outlook when things start to go wrong in a match. And her superior fitness enabled her to outlast her opponents in marathon-matches to the extent that she actually started to enjoy it!
            "I know, I love them," she said of three-set matches after her quarter-final win at Indian Wells. "I guess the more time I spend on the court, the better for me. I always feel like I've got the physical advantage with the players that I can last a little longer, maybe, than they can, and that gives me a lot of confidence."

Daniela's year started ingloriously in windy conditions at Auckland, which didn't favour Daniela with her high service-toss and flat groundstrokes that rely on precision. She struggled past her #153-ranked 17-year-old compatriot Dominika Cibulková 6-1 3-6 6-2, then crashed out 6-1 7-5 to #88-ranked qualifier Virginie Razzano in the second round (it could have been much worse, as Daniela trailed 1-6 *2-5). At least her arms looked much stronger than they do during one of her 'lean' periods.

She was thrashed 6-1 6-4 by 17-year-old Nicole Vaidišová in the first round of Sydney, and dropped one place to #18 in the rankings. Nicole served extremely well, and didn't give Daniela a single look at a break-point. Daniela then pulled out of the doubles with a viral infection (high fever and tiredness), which, it was feared, would jeopardise her participation at the Australian Open the following week.

But these fears proved unfounded, as Daniela made it through to the fourth round of the Australian Open (the fourth time in five consecutive Majors that she reached that round). Despite her skin looking rough, she eased past #192-ranked Alizé Cornet (one week shy of her 17th birthday) 6-4 6-1, struggled past Emilie Loit 4-6 6-3 6-4, and recovered from 6-7 2-5 and 1-3 in the third to defeat Ashley Harkleroad 6-7 (6/8) 7-5 6-3.
            That 3h07m marathon took its toll as Daniela had to play Kim Clijsters in the fourth round the following day: she lost 6-1 7-5 to extend her dispapsinating record against Clijsters to 0:9. It was the last-ever match between the two then-23-year-olds, as the injury-plagued Clijsters retired in May.

Daniela crashed out of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open with a 6-4 6-4 loss to world #119 Roberta Vinci in the first round. Vinci is an old-school serve-and-volleyer/chip-and-charger who excels on grass, so the fast carpet at Tokyo would have suited her down to the ground, especially as she had also had three qualifying-matches to get used to the conditions, which are so different from Melbourne.
            After a first-round loss in the doubles, Ai Sugiyama - Daniela's regular partner since May 2005 - announced that she was dumping Daniela because she [Sugiyama] perceived her as a singles-player who didn't move well in doubles. They did, however, play together at Dubai, where they reached the semi-finals - and were going to play Doha until Sugiyama pulled out injured.
            On 19th February, Daniela's ranking dropped one place to #19.

Dubai was Daniela's next stop: two wins over beautiful Russians, then the muscular reality. Daniela thrashed Elena Vesnina 6-1 6-3, then beat Maria Kirilenko 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7/4). Little Maria was in a deep slump at the time: she kept having these close third sets, but didn't have the confidence to close them out - although it was Daniela who should have closed it out earlier, as she led 5-3* and *5-4 (30/0) in the third set.
            Playing her quarter-final first on court the day after that marathon, Daniela lost 6-3 3-6 6-4 to Amélie Mauresmo.

Doha was the start of something special for Daniela. She thrashed Catalina Castańo 6-1 6-0, then survived the dangerous Eleni Daniilidou 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 6-3. In the quarter-finals, she scored one of the best match-wins of her career (and WTA Tour Win of the Week) as she recovered from 1-6 *1-4 (0/30) to defeat former world number one Martina Hingis 1-6 6-4 6-4. But once again, the schedule took its toll on Daniela - six sets in two days - as she suffered a disappointing 6-4 6-2 loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semi-finals.
            After beating Daniilidou, Daniela spoke the following prophetic words: "My best tennis is yet to come - I haven't fulfilled my potential as yet. I definitely want to tap this potential to be a better player. I have to get it out, and I believe it will come.
            "I think I am my biggest critic. Perhaps I was too hard on myself. I was in the top ten, and I doubt if I was prepared for it at all. Maybe success came a bit too early for me. I may have not made the right decisions on and off the court, and that affected my growth."
            Daniela went back up one place to #18 in the rankings.

Daniela won the second WTA singles-title of her career at the same tournament she won her first in 2002: the Super Tier I at Indian Wells. After a bye, she survived the dangerous Kaia Kanepi 6-2 2-6 6-1, then beat Francesca Schiavone - off whom she'd never taken a set in two previous meetings - 6-2 7-6 (7/3).
            This set up a fourth-round match against third seed Martina Hingis - a repeat of the Indian Wells 2002 final, which Daniela had won 6-3 6-4. So it was a beautiful symmetry that she won this one 6-4 6-3 (despite Hingis leading *4-3 (40/0) in the first set and 3-1* (ad) in the second) to finish their head-to-head series at 3:2 as Hingis retired (again) in November.
            Daniela came perilously close to defeat in her quarter-final against Shahar Pe'er, who led *3-1 in the third set and *5/3 in the third-set tiebreak. But Shahar didn't Hawkeye-challenge her forehand being incorrectly called out, and Daniela won the last four points to prevail 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7/5).
            In the semi-finals, Daniela outlasted Li,Na 7-5 4-6 6-1 in hot conditions - in which Daniela felt much better than Li.
            Daniela proved that lightning can strike twice in the same place as she beat world #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-4 in the final - even the scoreline was the same as in 2002! I have watched the final, and it's one of the most delightful performances of flairsome power and spreading rallies I've ever seen! Daniela seemed so calm and confident, and there was a sense of destiny about her victory.
            Daniela shot up from #18 to #12 in the rankings.

At Miami, after a bye, Daniela saw off 14-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito 7-5 6-0. "If I lose, it's the biggest disaster in the world," said Daniela after the match.
            This set up only her second career-meeting with Vera Zvonarëva in the third round. And it was a similar story to their first meeting, as Vera blew Daniela away with a brilliant performance of power, accuracy, lateral retrieval and good serving: 6-2 6-4. But Daniela might not have won Indian Wells if Vera hadn't knocked out defending champion Maria Sharapova in the fourth round there.
            Daniela's ranking dropped from #12 to #14.

Daniela began her claycourt-season at Amelia Island with convincing wins over two good claycourters: world #571 Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-1 6-3, and #150 (but soon to be top 50) Dominika Cibulková 6-1 6-4. But she lost her quarter-final 2-6 6-2 6-2 to Sybille Bammer, who was having the best season of her career with wins over Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Tatiana Golovin.

In World Group II of the Fed Cup, Slovakia lost 0:5 to Czechia, with Daniela losing 7-6 (7/1) 4-6 6-3 to Lucie Šafárová in the first rubber, and 6-2 6-7 (1/7) 6-3 to Nicole Vaidišová in the third rubber. I don't mind Daniela losing to Lucie and Nicole, as both are brilliant players. But her 6-1 6-3 loss to another Czech, #117-ranked Zuzana Ondrášková, in the first round of Berlin, was her worst of the season.

Daniela reached her first-ever claycourt semi-final at Rome. In the first round, she battled past Aravane Rezaď (who would go on to defeat Maria Sharapova at Istanbul the following week) 4-6 6-1 6-2, then took revenge against Sybille Bammer (for Amelia Island) by thrashing her 6-1 6-2.
            This set up a mouthwatering third-round clash with Anna Chakvetadze, but Anna wasn't firing on all cylinders, and Daniela trounced her 6-2 6-3 (after wobbling at *5-1 in the second).
            In the quarter-finals, Daniela succeeded where she would fail at the French Open, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-6 (10/8) 7-5. Again, Daniela decided to make it difficult after leading 4-1* in the first set, *5/2 in the tiebreak, and 5-3* in the second (a game in which she squandered at least three match-points).
            That match had lasted 2˝ hours, and once again, Daniela paid the price of winning the hard way as she slumped to a 6-4 6-2 loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova the following day, with definite signs of tiredness in the second set. She pulled out of Strasbourg with a left-leg strain.
            Daniela rose one place to #13 in the rankings (having, in fact, also held that ranking for the week of 7th May).

In the first round of the French Open, Daniela scored an excellent 6-3 6-1 win over Jelena Kostanic Tošic - despite dropping her serve in the first game.
            She then beat Olga Poutchkova 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 after Olga had led by a break on three separate occasions in the first set (*2-1, *3-2 and *6-5), only for Daniela to break back immediately. That was the start of Olga's 12-match losing-streak.
            In the third round, Daniela lost 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 7-5 to the feisty Anabel Medina Garrigues - but not before staging an amazing comeback from *1-5 in the second set (in which she saved 8 set-points, only to lose it on the ninth) and saving a match-point at *4-5 (30/40) in the third.

Daniela began her grasscourt-season playing in front of Yours Truly at Birmingham. After a bye, she overcame a dreadful start that left her 0-2* down against #159-ranked qualifier Olga Govortsova to romp to a straightforward 6-2 6-4 victory. After three days off due to rain, she won her third-round match against Eleni Daniilidou 7-6 (7/3) 6-4.
            I didn't see that match because I chose to watch Maria Sharapova v Tamira Paszek instead, but when they started the quarter-finals later on Saturday, I chose Daniela over Maria as Daniela was playing the Selesian Marion Bartoli (who would go on to reach the Wimbledon-final with a sensational upset of Justine Henin). In a high-quality match in the humble settings of Court 4, Daniela fought back from *3-5 down to take the first set 7-5 after Marion took a lengthy medical time-out. Daniela dropped her serve in the first game of the second, and failed to put any pressure on Marion's serve as Marion won the second set 6-4. With Daniela facing break-point at 30/40 in the first game of the third, both players stopped as it was getting dark and slippery, and after a lengthy discussion with the officials - who seemed more concerned about getting the tournament finished on time than about health and safety - play was suspended for the day.
            Daniela and Marion resumed their third set on Centre Court on Sunday morning. Marion converted her break-point, but Daniela broke back immediately to love. In fact there were more breaks than holds in the third set; both players looked very nervous, especially Marion when she served for the match at 5-4 and got broken to love! But instead of seizing the momentum, Daniela helped Marion on her way to the semi-finals with some cheap errors in the last two games of a 5-7 6-4 7-5 decision.
            With the gaps between the rankings being so narrow, even this modest result was enough to elevate Daniela from #13 to #10 - her highest ranking since she dropped from #9 to #14 on 8th September 2003.

Sadly for me, Daniela and Anna Chakvetadze decided to play 's-Hertogenbosch rather than Eastbourne as they had in previous years. In the first round, Daniela inflicted the third of Olga Poutchkova's 12 losses in a row: 6-2 6-1. In the second round, Daniela was leading 3-6 6-3 5-3 when Meghann Shaughnessy sprained her left ankle and had to retire.
            In the quarter-finals, Daniela played Ana Ivanovic for the first time. Ana was already up to #6 in the world, having reached the French Open final, but Daniela thrashed her 6-3 6-1! This set up a mouthwatering Daniela v Anna semi-final, which Anna won 6-3 6-4 (and went on to beat Jelena Jankovic in the final).

Daniela began her Wimbledon-campaign with a 6-1 6-0 drubbing of 15-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has won three Major Girls' Singles titles, but was only ranked #311 by the WTA. It was a 40-minute lesson on the difference between juniors and professionals.
            Elena Likhovtseva put up good, professional resistance against Daniela in the second round. Daniela was brilliant at times, but deliberate and self-conscious at others - notably when she served for the first set at 5-4. She toughed it out for a 7-5 7-6 (7/3) victory.
            In the third round, Daniela extended her head-to-head against Katarina Srebotnik to 6:0 - although four of those matches have gone to three sets, including this one. Katarina played an excellent first set of all-court tennis to win it 6-2, but the momentum changed completely after a 7-deuce service-game for Daniela at 1-1 in the second, in which she saved two break-points. After that, Daniela started playing brilliantly while Katarina became slow and tentative, and Daniela punished Katarina's lack of belief with a 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory.
            Daniela's fourth-round match against Serena Williams was full of drama, controversy and theatrics. Daniela seemed to be heading for embarrassment as she lost the first set 6-2, but she bounced back to take a 5-2* lead in the second. She choked that lead away to make it *5-5, but it was at 30/15 in that game that the real drama began, as Williams collapsed with a spasm-induced calf-strain, writhing and screaming in agony. It looked like Daniela was through to her first Major quarter-final since the Australian Open 2003 without even having to play another point, but to my amazement, Williams eventually got up and decided to play on! Daniela held serve easily for 6-5*, but Williams, though hobbling, managed to force a tiebreak with a couple of big serves and volley-winners.
            With Daniela leading 4/2* in the tiebreak, Williams was saved by a two-hour rain-delay. Though Daniela made a brilliant resumption to take the three points needed to win the tiebreak, she folded horribly in the third set as she saw the improvement in Williams's movement. Williams also indulged in some bizarre gamesmanship: asking to go to the toilet before Daniela's last two service-games (both broken despite Williams's request being denied), and refusing to go before her own service-game in between. Daniela looked close to tears as Williams sealed a 6-2 6-7 (2/7) 6-2 victory. "It's so hard to play against somebody that you know is struggling, and you kind of feel sorry," she said.
            After three weeks at #10, Daniela's ranking dropped to #12.

In the Fed Cup World Group II play-offs, Slovakia retained their position with a 4:1 victory over Serbia, in which Daniela hammered Ana Timotic 6-1 6-2 and the sexy Vojislava Lukic 6-0 6-2.

Daniela reached the semi-finals of Stanford. After a bye, she beat Selesian player Peng,Shuai 6-4 6-2. In the quarter-finals, she recovered from a 1-4 start to defeat world #100 Olga Govortsova 7-5 6-3, then admitted she had forgotten playing Govortsova at Birmingham: "I did? That was her? She came out playing unbelievably and hitting the ball amazingly hard; I just tried to hang in there and wait for the right moments."
            This set up a mouthwatering semi-final with Anna Chakvetadze. Daniela led 5-2 in the first set and 5/2 in the tiebreak, but Anna won 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 6-2 in 2h18m (and went on to win the title).
            Anna said: "It was a good match, although my serve was a bit up and down. I served better in the third set, though, which was the most important. Still I'm pleased with the way I played. I was playing better than I was yesterday. She made me run a lot. After the first set, I thought I had to play more aggressive."
            Daniela said: "She is very smart, and can play big when she needs to."
            Daniela moved back up from #12 to #10 in the rankings, this time for four consecutive weeks.

After a first-round bye at San Diego, Daniela beat Victoria Azarenka 6-3 1-6 6-1. "Right from the beginning, she was going for her shots, and when I dropped the second set, I just had to forget about it. I was happy with the way I was able to focus in the third set. I definitely needed to take my game to the next level, because she kept playing the same. I went more for my shots. I expected a tough match from her because I know her. We've practised before, and I knew how good she was."
            But in the third round, she fell to 0:9 head-to-head against Venus Williams as the Wimbledon-champion thrashed her 6-0 6-3.

At Los Angeles, Daniela beat Jill Craybas 6-3 7-6 (7/5) in the second round, but trailing 3-6 1-4 against Elena Dementieva in the third round, she retired with an upper respiratory illness. "It is a cold at the moment," she said. "Once it starts to get around, it is very easy to get sick. As soon as I had to hit more than two shots, I was dead."

Daniela's woes continued at New Haven, where she slumped to a lethargic 7-5 6-3 loss to eventual finalist Ágnes Szávay in the second round (and dropped from #10 to #11 in the rankings). And it could not have been worse timing ahead of the US Open, where Daniela crashed out 6-4 3-6 6-1 to world #50 Julia Vakulenko (who had made Daniela cry after missing match-points at the US Open 2003 before Daniela finally won). It was only the fourth first-round loss in the main draw of a Major in Daniela's career, and it dropped her ranking one more place to #12.

Daniela returned to form in the more relaxed setting of Bali, where she reached the final. After a first-round bye, she beat little-known world #180 Elise Tamaela 7-5 6-3 - and it was even more of a struggle than the scoreline suggests, as Daniela saved seven break-points. But she made short work of #154-ranked Selesian qualifier Ayumi Morita in the quarter-finals: 6-2 6-1. In the semi-finals, she saw off #137-ranked qualifier Sorana Cîrstea 7-5 6-1, despite the tentative squandering of numerous break-points in the first set.
            In the final, 31-year-old former world number one Lindsay Davenport, who was playing her first singles-tournament in almost a year due to the birth of her son, with a ranking of #234, completed a comeback that beggared belief with a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory that extended her head-to-head against Daniela to 7:0. Daniela had a break-point that would have given her 5-3 in the first set, and refused to blame her defeat on a blister on her right foot during the third set. "Maybe the pregnancy gave me some magical powers," said Davenport.
            Ironically, Davenport had been Daniela's doubles-partner for that week - "When you get asked by someone like that, you just can't say no," explained Daniela. They reached the semi-finals with two straight-sets victories over lowly-ranked opposition, then Davenport pulled out with a left-forearm strain.
            Daniela moved back up from #12 to #11 in the rankings.

Daniela reached the semi-finals of Kolkata, which cemented her place in the top ten for the rest of the year as she rose to #10. In the first two rounds, she beat #188-ranked qualifier Marta Domachowska and #94 Anastasia Rodionova both 6-2 6-1 - the difference being that Rodionova lasted less than an hour against her. And it was only slightly more difficult in the quarter-finals, as Daniela beat #81 Chan,Jung-Jan 6-4 6-1.
            This set up a mouthwatering semi-final with Maria Kirilenko, who had also been rivalling Daniela in the glamour-game that week, as both girls attended their press-conferences in sexy Indian saris! Little Maria won 4-6 6-2 6-1, and went on to win her second WTA singles-title two years to the week that she won her first (Beijing 2005).

Daniela was runner-up at Luxembourg. She avenged her Berlin-defeat by beating #150-ranked Zuzana Ondrášková 6-4 6-1. In the quarter-finals, she beat Patty Schnyder 6-3 5-7 7-5 - it should have been much easier as Daniela squandered three match-points at 6-3 *5-3!
            In the semi-finals, she avenged her Birmingham-defeat by hammering Marion Bartoli 6-2 6-2 with a terrific serving-display, including 10 aces. Daniela said: "The score is flattering for me. It wasn't so easy, but I played really well during the important moments."
            This set up an intriguing final against rising superstar Ana Ivanovic. Daniela seemed on course to repeat her 's-Hertogenbosch stomping of Ana and to claim her third WTA singles-title as she led 6-3 3-0*. But it was Ana who ended up winning: 3-6 6-4 6-4. It seems that the turnaround was more Ana's fightback than Daniela's choke. Ana said: "Daniela started off really well, playing aggressively and going for her shots. When I was 3-0 down in the second set, I told myself that I needed to be more aggressive."

At Stuttgart, Daniela drew a mouthwatering first-round match with Lucie Šafárová. I was pleased that Daniela avenged a loss to Lucie in Fed Cup back in April, but disappointed that it was 6-1 6-3, as I was contemplating the possibility of inducting Lucie into my Eternal Fanship - and in January 2008, I did so, because she's one of the most flairsomely-talented players on the Tour (along with Daniela, of course). "I did the right things from start to finish," said Daniela, who slipped away quietly with a 6-4 6-4 loss to Elena Dementieva in the second round.
            Daniela's ranking rose from #10 to #9 - her highest since 7th September 2003 - as Nadia Petrova failed to defend the Stuttgart title. I prefer to think of it as a belated reward for Daniela's Luxembourg final.

Qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships was now Daniela's top priority for the year, and a good run at Zürich - where she reached the final in 2006 - seemed vital to her chances. She survived a very dangerous first-round opponent in beating Dinara Safina 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/4), only to crash out to Agnieszka Radwanska - who also knocked Maria Sharapova out of the US Open - 6-3 6-3 in the second round. "I have been fighting a cold for the past few days, and I really just had nothing left and became very tired out there," explained Daniela. Ironically, Radwanska was the lucky loser who had replaced Maria in the Zürich-draw, with Daniela and Maria fighting for the last place at the Sony Ericsson Championships.
            Daniela's ranking dropped from #9 to #10.

Daniela knew going into Linz that she had to win the tournament to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships - and win it she did! She also moved up from #10 to her year-end ranking of #9.
            After a first-round bye, Daniela thrashed the lovely Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-1. "I made it easier for myself by making sure I was there for every point," said Daniela.
            In the quarter-finals, Daniela defeated beautiful Alyona Bondarenko 6-4 1-6 6-3 - after saving a break-point at *3-3 in the third, and converting one at 4-3*. "What got me through the third set was just my fighting spirit - trying to do my best on every point," said Daniela.
            This set up a mouthwatering semi-final with Nicole Vaidišová, against whom Daniela had a 0:4 record. And it looked as though Nicole would make it 5:0 as she led 4-1* in the third set. But Nicole has been known to choke too; Daniela fought back, saved a match-point at *5-6 with a service-winner, and won 2-6 6-2 7-6 (7/3) on a double fault by Nicole, who hasn't reached a final since winning her sixth WTA singles-title at Strasbourg 2006. Daniela said: "I actually didn't know what the score was during the third set, because I was just trying to focus on every point."
            This set up a final against Patty Schnyder, who had stunned top seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-1 6-0 in the quarter-finals! I have watched the final. Daniela made a slow start to trail 2-4 in the first set, but suddenly everything she touched started turning to gold, and she blazed to a spectacular 6-4 6-2 victory with spreading rallies and winners at will! It was the third WTA singles-title of Daniela's career and second of the year, and it put her 9:8 ahead against Schnyder, after having been 3:7 against her at the end of 2004. It also qualified Daniela for the Sony Ericsson Championships, as she and Maria Sharapova were tied at 2431 points each in the Race, and Daniela had played 26 tournaments in the year to Maria's 12.
            Daniela said: "I was told I had to win the tournament to qualify. I said, 'Sure, why not?' I tried not to think about it too much, and I ended up winning the tournament! It was an incredible experience."

So Daniela went to Madrid for the Sony Ericsson Championships, and in her first round-robin match, she found herself facing Maria Sharapova - who had only qualified when Venus Williams withdrew a few hours after Daniela won Linz. I thought Daniela had a good chance of beating Maria, who had played (and lost) only one match since losing in the third round of the US Open, having struggled with a persistent right-shoulder injury all year. But Daniela made a nervous start, then found Maria in top form; Daniela fought bravely in the second set, saving four match-points (one with a Hawkeye-challenge), but Maria won 6-4 7-5 and went on to reach the final.
            Daniela's possibility of qualifying for the semi-finals ended on Day 2 as she lost 6-2 7-6 (11/9) to Ana Ivanovic, who had a *5-0 start. But the match was much closer than the scoreline implies, as there were numerous deuces, and it lasted 2h12m! The second-set tiebreak featured both match-points for Ana and set-points for Daniela before it finally went Ana's way.
            Although already out of contention for the semi-finals, it would have been a great shame if Daniela had gone 0:3 in the round robin, given that she came into the tournament on top form. But it was Svetlana Kuznetsova who went 0:3, as Daniela recovered from 1-4 to upset the world number two 7-6 (9/7) 6-0, saving five set-points in the tiebreak, and hitting 32 winners en route to her first-ever victory at the season-ending championships - and her first-ever victory over a top-three player - to finish third in the Red Group.

Daniela made a great start to 2008, reaching her first-ever Major semi-final at the Australian Open, and rising from #9 to #7 (albeit briefly) in the rankings.

But sadly, Daniela suffered a stress-fracture in her right heel, which appeared to originate from the Australian Open, and which sidelined her for ten weeks from April to June, forcing her to miss the French Open.

Daniela returned to action at Wimbledon with no signs of her foot-injury, but she had lost her fitness, and the rest of her season was mediocre, as she finished the year with a win/loss record of just 22:20 (12:7 before the injury lay-off, 10:13 after it), just two semi-finals (the Australian Open and Bali), and fell to #21 in the rankings.

Daniela: "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."

Daniela started the year at the JB Group Classic exhibition-tournament in Hong Kong. In the first round (quarter-finals) on Wednesday 2nd January, she lost 6-4 6-3 to Anna Chakvetadze. On Thursday, she pulled out of the doubles-competition with abdominal pains, and on Friday, she pulled out of the losers' play-off (where she was due to face 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki).

Daniela's first official tournament of the year was Sydney. In the first round, she recovered from a set and a break down to beat Dinara Safina - who would finish 2008 ranked #3, although she was only #16 at the time - 5-7 6-4 6-4. Daniela now leads Safina 3:2, having won their last three meetings!
            Daniela: "For the first match of the year, I couldn't ask for a better start. I was just very proud [of] the way I was fighting, and the conditions were very tough, so it wasn't easy. I also thought Dinara was playing very well, so I'm glad to get through."
            This set up a mouthwatering match with Nicole Vaidišová in the second round - which is actually rather insulting, seeing as Daniela and Nicole were ranked #9 and #12 at the time! Nicole won 6-4 6-2 to extend her head-to-head against Daniela to 5:1 - in fact Nicole has now knocked Daniela out of the last three editions of Sydney! Daniela won 4 games off Nicole in 2006, 5 games in 2007 and 6 games in 2008. At least this pattern won't continue in 2009, as Nicole isn't going to Sydney.

Daniela reached her first-ever Major semi-final at the Australian Open, which was now played on Plexicushion rather than the Rebound Ace of 1988-2007. The ball tends to bounce lower on Plexicushion, which is great for a player like Daniela, as it helps her to take the ball early, and gives her more pay-off for her flat groundstrokes of flairsome power.
            In the heat of a very hot Australian day, she won her first-round match against world #108 Vania King 6-3 7-5 in 1h50m, despite being *0-2 down in the second set. "I was just really pleased to get through in two sets - it was tough out there," said Daniela. "It was very tight. I was just pleased with the way I hung in there and played the big points well. That was crucial today. I'm fully fit, and so I just want to go out there and enjoy it."
            She did one game better in the second round, beating #59-ranked 17-year-old Alizé Cornet 6-2 7-5. The second set was a bit of a rollercoaster, though, as Daniela went from 1-3* to *4-3 to *4-5 to 7-5.
            In the third round, Daniela strolled past 34-year-old world #82 Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2 6-3, dominating with a W:UE ratio of 33:27 to Ruano Pascual's 5:14. The only hiccup came when Daniela was broken at the start of the second set.
            This set up a mouthwatering fourth-round clash with world #26 Maria Kirilenko, who had upset sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze in an equally mouthwatering third-round match. Maria led 6-1 *3-1 (30/0)! But Daniela fought back with 17 points in a row for 5-3*, and went on to win 1-6 6-4 6-4 in 2h20m - despite letting a *5-2 third-set lead with three match-points wobble.
            Daniela: "I was losing; I mean, being a set down and a few breaks doesn't really make it easy. Honestly, it was hard to see a way out of it, but I just kept fighting for every point, and tried to change my game a little bit. I freed up a little. Until then, it wasn't really me out there, so I tried to focus a bit more."
            Maria: "It was so quick: first I won the first set comfortably, then everything turned around, and before I knew it, I had lost. She's a top-ten player, so you have to concentrate for the entire match - you can't just expect to win because you've taken the first set."
            With this win, Daniela advanced to the fourth Major quarter-final of her career, but her first since the Australian Open 2003. And this time, it wasn't against a Williams-sister - only a Radwanska-sister: 18-year-old Agnieszka, ranked #28, appearing in her first Major quarter-final.
            Daniela had lost to Radwanska in their only previous meeting, but she avenged that loss in style with a 6-2 6-2 thrashing in 1h28m. In the first set, she broke Radwanska in the fourth and eighth games - the latter containing five deuces and six set-points. In the second set, Daniela raced to a 4-0* lead, but the rest of the match was breaks and counterbreaks.
            Daniela: "I was very proud of how I handled this situation. I felt like I had a great opportunity to win this match, but I still had to go out there and play my best, which I think I did at times. I kept fighting for every single point - even when I wasn't playing well. At the beginning, I was a little bit tight, but once I warmed up, I felt like I was hitting the ball well, and tactically I think I played quite a smart game. Yeah, I'm just extremely happy to be in the semis. It means a lot."
            Radwanska: "She was playing very good. She was playing very long balls, close to the baseline. It was very hard to play. I also had many chances, but I didn't use [them], and the last points always she did better."
            Daniela lost her first Major semi-final to world #3 Ana Ivanovic: a 20-year-old already playing in her third Major semi-final. Daniela led 6-0 2-0* (40/40), but then Ana started making her shots, and won 0-6 6-3 6-4 in 2h10m to reach her second Major final. Daniela also had a break-point at 3-2* in the third set - which went with serve until Daniela at *4-4 netted a forehand volley that should have been an easy putaway.
            Daniela allowed herself to be distracted by the squeaking of Ana's shoes as Ana prepared to receive serve. Daniela even complained to the umpire, who ignored it (quite rightly IMO - it would not have been fair to penalise Ana over squeaky shoes). "I think it's unfair," said Daniela. "It's a distraction to the server. We played before and she never did it."
            Ana: "There was nothing I could do, because if I want to move my feet to return a ball, this was the sound I was producing. And also, during the point, if I want to run with small steps around the ball, it was exactly the same thing. If you see other matches, I was doing exactly the same thing - it's just the way these courts play. So it really was not intentional. Maybe she was just trying to pick on something, to get upset."
            Daniela's Australian Open semi-final was rewarded with a return to the top eight for the first time since 17th August 2003, as her ranking rose from #9 to #8.
            One worrying sign from the Australian Open was that Daniela pulled out of the women's doubles before her third-round match (scheduled later the day that she won her fourth-round singles-match), citing a foot-injury.

Daniela had intended to play at least one Fed Cup tie in 2008, but she pulled out of Slovakia's World Group II tie against Czechia on 2nd/3rd February, citing a problem with her right heel and fatigue. Slovakia was unable to withstand the force of Nicole Vaidišová, and lost 2:3.

In the second round of Paris, Daniela stuttered past world #28 Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 1-6 6-3, alternating brilliant winners with clumsy errors, but finishing with a crosscourt backhand winner to extend her head-to-head over Srebotnik to 7:0. "Every time we play, it's always a tough match," said Daniela. "I've always had to play very well to beat her. I guess she always brings the best out of me when I play against her. The fact that I've beaten her before helped me, especially on the crucial points."
            Daniela made a flying start to her quarter-final against world #20 Ágnes Szávay, leading 3-0* and 4-1* with a break-point that would have given her *5-1. But sadly, she was derailed by a blister on her right hand. She lost 7-6(4) 6-1 after taking a medical time-out at 1-1 in the second set. Szávay went on to reach the final.

In the second round of Antwerp, Daniela beat #163-ranked wild card Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-3, despite converting only 2 of 12 break-points against the 18-year-old who would be runner-up at Birmingham in June.
            This set up a quarter-final against #94-ranked qualifier Timea Bacsinszky, but sadly, Daniela was hampered by a cold that got steadily worse, and retired at 2-6 6-4 1-4. "I thought it would get better, but out there today, it only got worse," said Daniela. "I could barely stand on the court, and was tired after playing for five seconds. I don't know why I waited until the third set to stop. I can't believe I stayed out there for almost two hours."
            Daniela pulled out of the following two weeks' tournaments at Doha and Dubai. Nevertheless, her ranking rose from #8 to #7 on 25th February, as Venus Williams's Memphis 2007 title came off. It was Daniela's first time in the top seven since she dropped from #5 to #8 on 17th March 2003, but sadly it lasted only one week, as her semi-final points from Doha 2007 came off on 3rd March.

Daniela opened the defence of her Indian Wells title with a 6-1 6-2 thrashing of #221-ranked wild card Angela Haynes in windy conditions, and said: "It was an incredible feeling to be back on the centre court. This is the court for me. It definitely feels like it's my home out there. I wish I could play every match of the year on this court. I don't know what it is. I guess it's the bounce: not too slow, not too fast. It was just perfect. I feel like I can hit every time in the middle of my racket."
            In the third round, she beat world #216 Zheng,Jie - who would go on to reach her first Major semi-final at Wimbledon - 6-4 6-2. I saw a few points of that match on the Internet, and Daniela just looked too strong for Zheng.
            In the fourth round, Daniela saved 11 of 13 break-points as she beat world #32 Sania Mirza 6-1 7-6(4). Sania took a medical time-out for a right-wrist injury. Daniela led 6-1 *6-5, but 4/0 in the tiebreak proved to be a more decisive lead, and Daniela sealed victory with her trademark backhand winner down the line.
            Daniela: "I thought it was a great match. Sania is a great hitter, and I was expecting a really tough one today. Just being able to be in the quarters without losing a set feels really great. I feel like I'm hitting the ball well again."
            This set up a mouthwatering quarter-final clash with Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova. With Maria on a 17-match winning-streak in 2008, and Daniela on a 9-match winning-streak at Indian Wells, something had to give!
            Daniela before the match: "It's going to be an exciting match. Maria's obviously in great form, so it will be a good test for me. I feel like I own this place and I'm confident, but obviously if I want to win, I have to play my best. I think mentally she's one of the toughest players. Even though sometimes her game is not there, she never fights against herself. She is always on her side, and that's what makes her so strong."
            Maria before the match: "Considering two of the three titles she's won were here, of course those would be her words. She's playing well this year, but this is a different part of the year and a new match. We've played each other numerous times, and we know each other's games well. I've had success here, and over the years, I've played great tennis and had many good memories here. But, you know, it all comes down to the person that takes their chances and is more solid."
            That person turned out to be Maria. Daniela led 5-2* in the first set and had two set-points - including 5-4* (40/30) - but she couldn't take her chances, and Maria ran out a 7-6(2) 6-1 winner to extend her winning-streak to 18 matches (where it would stop, as she lost her semi-final).
            Maria: "In the first set, I felt like I didn't even belong on that court, but I finally got my groove back. My level just was so low in that first set. I was making so many errors, and she had that first set in her hands, but she just didn't take her opportunities. She did everything better than I did in the first set, and somehow I ended up winning it. That gave me the confidence, and in the end of that set, I started to pick it up. The second set was great."
            Daniela: "I had my chances and didn't take them today. I lost my concentration in that first set, and she took advantage of that. But she's playing very well, hasn't lost this season, so she really deserves it. Obviously I feel like it's my tournament, so I'm very disappointed. But I feel good about my game right now, and am happy to have come back and played well after being sick."
            For failing to defend her Indian Wells 2007 title, Daniela dropped from #8 to #9 in the rankings.

In the second round of Miami, Daniela breezed past world #109 Milagros Sequera 6-2 6-1. In the third round, however, she lost to 32-year-old world #40 Ai Sugiyama: her doubles-partner as recently as Indian Wells (where they reached the semi-finals). Daniela fought back from 4-6 2-5, saving match-point in the second-set tiebreak, and led 4-2 in the third set before losing 6-4 6-7(8) 7-5.
            Daniela dropped one more place down the rankings to #10.

Amelia Island was the first tournament of 2008 in which Daniela lost her opening match: 6-3 1-6 6-3 to #296-ranked qualifier Karolina Šprem, who was playing only the second tournament of her comeback from right-elbow surgery in May 2007. Karolina - who upset Venus Williams en route to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2004 - overpowered Daniela and hit nine aces. Daniela squandered five break-points in the third set, while Karolina converted the only one she had: to break for *5-3.
            Daniela: "I understood she was going to be much more prepared, because she's played like four matches here. She's much more used to the clay than me, but having said that, if I was maybe a little calmer around the big points, I think the match could have gone either way. I don't think I did too many things wrong. She was just playing incredible, going for every shot, and almost everything going inside the court. Today she was just too good."

Amelia Island turned out to be the last tournament Daniela would play before Wimbledon, as she was sidelined for ten weeks with a stress-fracture in her right heel. She pulled out of Slovakia's Fed Cup World Group II play-off (Slovakia thrashed Uzbekistan 5:0 on 26th/27th April to remain in World Group II for 2009), and then out of Berlin (week of 5th May), Rome (12th May), Istanbul (19th May), the French Open (25th May) and 's-Hertogenbosch (16th June).
            On her French Open withdrawal - the first Major she'd missed since the French Open 2000, having played 31 Majors in a row - Daniela wrote: "A near-heartbreaking day for me... After final consult with my team, I am sad to announce that I will be missing my first Roland Garros as a professional athlete [not true - Daniela turned pro in 1999]. Every player's dream is to compete in the Grand Slams [sic], and I so much wanted to make Paris happen. But I know I have to be patient, as recovery from this type of injury takes time."
            Daniela spent most of this lay-off at #10 in the rankings, although for failing to defend her Rome 2007 semi-final, she would have dropped out of the top ten on 19th May but for the abrupt retirement of world #1 Justine Henin, who asked to be removed from the rankings. Daniela finally dropped to #11 on 9th June, when French Open runner-up Dinara Safina jumped from #14 to #9. Daniela moved back up to #10 on 16th June after Marion Bartoli failed to defend her Birmingham 2007 semi-final, but dropped to #12 on 23rd June for failing to defend her own 's-Hertogenbosch 2007 semi-final.

Returning to action at Wimbledon, Daniela was understandably rusty. In the first round, she drew world #57 Sara Errani: hardly renowned for her prowess on grass. In the first set, Daniela trailed 0-3*, *1-3 (0/40), *2-4 and 4-5*, but made a terrific recovery to win 7-6(5) 6-4 in 1h35m, although she did wobble at 5-1* in the second set.
            The second round was a much tougher proposition against #42-ranked 18-year-old Alisa Kleybanova, who had looked impressive at Eastbourne, with huge power on her groundstrokes, albeit with limited control. But here, she seemed to have a magnet to the lines.
            Daniela trailed 3-6 *0-3, but staged another terrific fightback to win the last five games of the second set from *1-4. But after squandering three break-points at 1-1* in the third, and losing her own serve after a game of five deuces at *1-2, Daniela looked increasingly weak and error-strewn as the match slipped away from her 6-3 4-6 6-1 in 2h07m. At least she didn't show any signs of her foot-injury.
            Daniela: "Missing the clay-courts wasn't so tough, but Wimbledon I was concerned about. I just couldn't imagine myself skipping Wimbledon."

In the second round of Stanford, Daniela lost 6-3 6-1 to 33-year-old world #38 and former regular doubles-partner Ai Sugiyama. Daniela led 3-0*, then lost 9 games in a row. This gave Sugiyama a 6:3 lead in their head-to-head.

Daniela looked to be heading for an even more one-sided loss in the second round of Los Angeles, as world #43 Olga Govortsova led 6-2 *5-1. Daniela added a modicum of respectability to the scoreline, Govortsova missed three match-points at *5-3, but broke to 30 to win 6-2 6-4.
            Govortsova: "When I was up 5-1, I started to think I'm going to win the match, then she started to play more aggressive. Then, at 5-4, I started to hit the ball again, and finally won. She hits the ball really deep and has a good serve. To beat her, you have to be aggressive."
            Daniela: "My game is not there yet. I just have to be patient, keep practising, and keep working hard. I guess it's going to be a long way back. I'm struggling to find my rhythm, and it was a bad performance."
            Daniela withdrew from the following week's Montréal-tournament, citing a schedule-change.

At the Beijing Olympics, Daniela avenged her previous two losses to Ai Sugiyama in 2008 with a 6-2 7-5 win over the #33-ranked 33-year-old. They were rained off on Sunday with Daniela leading 6-2 3-0* (15/30*). When they resumed on Monday, Daniela advanced to a *5-3 lead, but couldn't serve it out. She had at least two match-points before *5-5, and only narrowly avoided being taken to a tiebreak.
            As at Athens 2004, Daniela failed to get past the second round of the Olympics, as #22-ranked 18-year-old Caroline Wozniacki thrashed her 6-1 6-3 in 1h10m (after leading 6-1 *5-2). Wozniacki said: "It's a great win for me, as she is a very good player."

In the second round of New Haven, Daniela avenged her Los Angeles loss to Olga Govortsova by edging out the world #48 3-6 6-2 7-6(4). Daniela recovered from 3-5* in the third set, saved three match-points at *5-6, and said: "It was very close, and I still can't believe I won it. I'm so proud with the way I saved those match-points. I need those kind of matches under my belt. It's good for my confidence. I had to dig deep. If I can get through those kind of matches, I can get through anything."
            Daniela's win was probably more valuable than an easy one would have been, because it renewed her confidence that she could come through the tightest of matches. On the other hand, it probably cost her her quarter-final against #18-ranked 18-year-old Alizé Cornet, who avenged her Australian Open 2007 and 2008 losses to Daniela with a 3-6 6-4 6-4 victory, despite playing with an injured left-quadriceps muscle.
            Daniela: "This was a very important week for me. I don't think I could have asked for a better week before the US Open."

I beg to differ. Daniela lost in the first round of the US Open for the second year in a row: 6-4 6-2 to #141-ranked qualifier Anna-Lena Grönefeld: a former world #14 who has fallen on hard times. Grönefeld served big, and also dominated Daniela from the baseline. "I really didn't get the chance to get into the match," said Daniela. "She was serving incredibly well, and her first serves were around 125mph, which gave me no chance. I felt I was always under pressure. I don't feel 100% fit. The foot feels much better, but I lost the feeling of playing, and that takes time to get back."
            Grönefeld went on to reach the fourth round by upsetting 17th seed Alizé Cornet.
            Daniela had a decent run in the women's doubles, as she and Lindsay Davenport upset 13th seeds Vera Zvonarëva/Elena Vesnina 7-5 6-1 to reach the third round, where they lost 6-2 6-3 to fourth seeds Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama.
            Despite the first-round singles-loss, Daniela moved up from #12 to #11 in the rankings, as fellow first-round loser Anna Chakvetadze had had a semi-final to defend!

Daniela reached her second semi-final of the year at Bali. In the second round, she had too much power and control for #121-ranked qualifier Olga Savchuk, winning 6-1 7-5. The second set was a struggle, though: Daniela saved two break-points at *0-0, and another two at *3-3. Although she held both those games, she was broken for 4-5*, but Savchuk let her off the hook by hitting an easy volley long, and at 6-5*, Daniela broke for the match.
            Daniela: "She was more aggressive on her service-games in the second set, and was tough to break. I made one mistake and she broke me. After she broke me, I just tried to stay in there and break her right back, which I did. I was very pleased with that, and overall I was very pleased with my game, actually. I just kept fighting for every point. It was a good test for me, and I felt like I handled the big points pretty well."
            [Re. her conditioning] "It's getting there. I'm working as hard as I can. I understand it's a long way back, and it's not 100% yet. I have to keep going, play a lot of practice-sets, and hopefully soon I will be back."
            In the quarter-finals, Daniela beat #59-ranked 19-year-old Chan,Yung-Jan 7-6(4) 4-6 6-2 in 2h37m. In the first set, Daniela raced to a 4-0 lead for the loss of just five points, but then Chan settled, putting Daniela under pressure with some powerful groundstrokes, and Daniela had to save two set-points before the tiebreak. In the third set, Daniela broke for *1-0, and again for *4-1. She converted all nine break-points she had in the match, while Chan converted 8 of 17.
            Daniela: "I'm just so excited to be in the semis after what I had to go through with my injury. I was very proud [of] how I kept fighting, tried to weather the storm, because she was playing unbelievable. She was going for every shot, and at one point, there was not much I could have done. I just tried to hang in there. A couple of loose points and she was back in the match. I was the stronger player in the third; I could tell she was getting tired."
            In the semi-finals, Daniela lost 6-2 5-7 6-4 to #85-ranked 17-year-old Tamira Paszek in another match lasting over 2˝ hours. Daniela struggled to keep the ball in play, while Paszek was confident and consistent. At *4-4 in the third set, Daniela suffered the vital break.
            Daniela: "It was a very close match; she doesn't give up; she played tough all the way through. I have some things to improve, and I missed a lot of easy balls at the end. Overall, I've been very pleased with the way I've played here, coming from a first-round loss at the US Open. I was really looking forward to playing some matches, and that's what I did, so it was a great week for me."
            A great week, maybe, but her ranking dropped straight back from #11 to #12 due to a combination of her failing to defend her Bali 2007 final and Patty Schnyder winning the 2008 title.

Daniela crashed out in the first round of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, losing 6-1 7-5 to 28-year-old world #28 Francesca Schiavone. She dropped one place in the rankings to #13 for failing to defend her Kolkata 2007 semi-final.

In a delectable first-round match at Beijing, Daniela thrashed world #47 Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-1, winning 9 of the last 10 games from 3-3 in the first set. "I think I did the right thing," said Daniela. "I got a lot of break-points." Daniela now leads Gisela 3:1 head-to-head, winning their last three meetings for the loss of just ten games.
            In the second round, Daniela also improved to 3:1 against Tamarine Tanasugarn, beating the #38-ranked 31-year-old Wimbledon quarter-finalist 6-1 0-6 7-5. Daniela won 8 of the last 11 points of the match, and said: "I even felt fog on my mouth, and my legs couldn't move in the second set. It was a wise decision to wear [sweatpants] in the third set."
            In the quarter-finals, Daniela had two set-points at 5-4, but lost 7-5 6-1 to world #2 Jelena Jankovic, who went on to win the title, and to finish the year at #1 despite never having won a Major.

In the first round of Stuttgart, Daniela lost to world #9 Vera Zvonarëva 6-3 6-2 in 1h18m.

In the first round of Moscow, Daniela avenged her Tokyo-loss to Francesca Schiavone by beating the #23-ranked qualifier(!) 6-3 6-2. Daniela broke three times from six break-points, and never faced one on her own serve.
            In the second round, she played Vera Zvonarëva for the second week in a row. Vera inflicted a 6-1 6-0 hurting in 52 minutes to extend her head-to-head against Daniela to 4:0. Vera won the first 16 points of the match to lead 4-0, and dropped only five points on her own serve all match. She said: "I did not make any unforced mistakes tonight. I was serving and returning well. But I know that one can only have one or two such easy matches in a season."
            Daniela dropped from #13 to #14 in the rankings as Nadia Petrova reached the Moscow quarter-finals.

In the first round of Zürich, Daniela lost 7-5 6-2 in 1h50m to world #32 Maria Kirilenko, who had won three WTA singles-titles in 2008! Daniela led 5-4* in the first set when both girls took a medical time-out, then Daniela lost 5 games in a row to trail 5-7 *0-2. Although Daniela broke back for *2-2, Maria was more aggressive, and won the last four games of the match to reduce Daniela's lead in their head-to-head to 4:2.
            Maria: "I just tried to move her on the baseline, and I know she can hit a few balls and then make a mistake or a winner, so I tried to keep the ball in play, and when I had a chance for myself, I took it. At 4-4, I started to feel pain in the knee, so when she got the physio, I said: 'Okay: I will also call.' After that, I think she lost a little bit concentration. She missed eight balls in a row - big outs - so maybe for her, the physio wasn't so good."
            Daniela dropped one more place in the rankings to #15 as her Zürich 2007 points came off and Flavia Pennetta reached the 2008 final.

Daniela finished her season with a quarter-final at Luxembourg, having failed to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships (she finished the 2008 Race at #22). In the first round of Luxembourg, she beat world #61 Pauline Parmentier 6-2 7-5. In the second round, she thrashed #56-ranked 19-year-old Sabine Lisicki 6-0 6-2.
            In the quarter-finals, Daniela lost 7-6(2) 6-2 to #39-ranked 18-year-old Sorana Cîrstea. Daniela led 5-2 in the first set, with a set-point at 6-5.
            Daniela's ranking dropped from #15 to #19 for failing to defend her Linz 2007 title, and on 10th November, she dropped to a year-end #21 for failing to defend her points from the Sony Ericsson Championships 2007. It was the first time Daniela had been ranked outside the top 20 since 22nd October 2006, and the first year that she'd finished outside the top 20 since 2004.