Twice champion and holder Daniela Hantuchova reached the quarterfinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells by beating India’s Sania Mirza 6-1 7-6.

Fifth-seeded Hantuchova took the first set in 39 minutes, breaking Mirza in the second and fourth games. In the second set both players made two breaks so there was a tiebreak which world No.8 Hantuchova won 7-4.

Last year the Slovakian won the Indian Wells title with a victory over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. (source: Reuters, photo: Getty Images)

Swiss teenage qualifier Timea Bacsinszky beat third seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 4-6 4-1 as the Slovakian retired due to what seemed to be breathing problems at the Proximus Diamond Games, in Antwerp, Belgium.

During the quarterfinal, Hantuchova was seen several times by a doctor and appeared to be having breathing difficulties. When the world No.8 decided to retire she enabled the 18-year-old Bacsinszky to score her first victory over a top 10 player.

Bacsinszky will be playing in her first career WTA semifinal when she faces the winner of the Henin-Kleybanova match.

This has been the second upset of Antwerp quarterfinals, as fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder fell to unseeded Karin Knapp of Italy earlier in the day. (via Earth Times, photo via Getty Images)

Slovakian world number eight Daniela Hantuchova was modeling this month for TCN, a producer of swimwear, lingerie, homewear and clothes. Here’s Daniela on the runway at Madrid Fashion Week.

(via WTA Hotties, El Mundo)

Agnes Szavay of Hungary beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 6-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Open Gaz de France in Paris.

Second-seeded Hantuchova took a 4-1 lead in the first set, but seventh-seeded Szavay recovered and eventually took the tiebreak 7-4. In the second game of the second set Hantuchova received treatment on her right hand and had it bandaged. After that, she lost five consecutive games, and hence the match, but she refused to blame the defeat solely on the injury.

"My hand was hurting, it's true, but that's not an excuse," said Hantuchova. "My opponent played really well."

In the semifinals of the Tier II tournament in Paris, Szavay will face Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva, who advanced with a 7-5 6-2 win over Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko. (source: Reuters)

Fourth seed Ana Ivanovic reached her second career Grand Slam final after ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova let slip a 6-0 2-0 lead to eventually lose 0-6 6-3 6-4. Hantuchova was annoyed with Ivanovic’s behavior during the match and accused the Serb of intentionally distracting her in serving by squeaking with her feet.

Only after 45 minutes did Ivanovic take her first game, but then she settled and took the second set 6-3. The third set went with serve until 4-4 when three errors from the Slovak helped Ivanovic to break, and the Serb closed things out 6-4.

Hantuchova criticized Ivanovic of using tactics to distract her. As Hantuchova was preparing to serve Ivanovic was shuffling her feet which resulted in loud squeaking. Read more »