[新聞] HATUCHOVA - JUST ONE MORE STEP TO GO
22 Aug 2008
by Barry Wood
The Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic is already Daniela Hantuchova’s favourite
tournament. What would make it even more perfect is if she can go one step
further this year and claim the title a year after she lost a pulsating final
to Lindsay Davenport. It was close, but she couldn’t quite do enough to
overcome the former champion and one of the all-time greats of the game.
"I was trying to do the right things," said Hantuchova after the match. "I
think I had the right tactic, which was to move Lindsay around to make her play
that extra shot, but all credit to the way she was playing. She was serving
great. She got out of trouble a lot with her first serve. But I had a fantastic
week. I really enjoyed it. It was wonderful. We had such a great time, and
especially the people were incredibly friendly and I loved every second of it."
She should have hated the place after her first visit, because she travelled
halfway around the world after playing at the US Open and then lost in the
first round. Players have the whole world to choose from when they pick where
they will play, and losing in the first round tends to leave unpleasant
memories and a desire to skip the place next year and try somewhere else. Not
for Daniela.
With success on the court last year, a beautiful resort to relax in and the
chance to mix in some trips to the spa and enjoy the inner-cleansing experience
of yoga sessions along with the tennis, no wonder the svelte Slovak is back in
Bali for a third time.
Since she was last here Daniela has remained in or close to the top 10, with
the highlight of the past year being her stunning run to the semi-finals of the
Australian Open where she was overcome by eventual champion Ana Ivanovic in a
gripping centre court battle. Add another final in Luxembourg, a title in Linz
and a run to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, and it is obvious that Daniela
will be a favourite to add her name to the list of champions at the Grand Hyatt
Resort, Bali.
But life isn’t all tennis. I asked her about what goes on in her life away
from the tennis courts. Not for her slouching in an armchair watching tv. She
likes a bit of action, and she has something of a passion for jet skiing. But
surely that’s a bit risky for a tennis player, who could lose a huge amount of
earnings if things went wrong. There was a guilty giggle.
"I know I should be a little more careful," she smiled. "But I don’t do it
crazy. Especially since I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid. If I was
starting now it would be different, but maybe now because I’m used to it, the
same with (snow) skiing. I know people say it’s dangerous, but if you do it
since you were three years old I don’t think so. Anything can happen to you,
even walking along the street. You’ve got to live a normal life. I don’t get
the chance to do it much now, only during my off-season. Between the tournaments
I don’t want to risk it."
That’s okay then. Another off-court interest is considerably more sedate.
Unless there’s suddenly the smell of burning from the kitchen, perhaps.
"I’m starting to cook," she said. "Mummy was giving me some lessons and I love
it. It’s also a great way to relax, and it’s so nice to be able to make
somebody else happy by making them eat something that you actually do. I do
enjoy baking, sweet stuff."
And, like many players, she is a little bit superstitious.
"Not too much," she said, "but for example, when I’m doing well in a
tournament I like to keep doing the same things, like eating at the same
restaurant, eating the same food. Same locker, same practise court. But once
I’m out of the tournament I’m pretty relaxed."
Other things you might like to know about Daniela include the fact that she
speaks three and a bit languages, because she knows Slovak, English and German
and is learning Spanish. As well as jet skiing and snow skiing, she enjoys ice
skating, roller blading and swimming, and her favourite foods are sushi and
seafood, with crepes with nutella as dessert. And she likes to drink hot
chocolate, although probably not in the heat of Bali. Nice when you come off
the slopes, though.
She is very keen on fashion, and as well as being a regular in the Commonwealth
Bank Tennis Classic players party fashion show, she has been featured in Vogue.
Her favourite designers are Armani, Cavalli, Dior and Missoni. As well as Bali,
she loves visiting Cape Town, and Rome, where she reached the semi-finals last
year before injury prevented her playing there in 2008.
She also studied classical piano between the ages 6 and 14, and she was good
enough to give concerts.
"I really enjoyed it. It was very difficult time-wise because I had my school
in the morning, tennis practise, then piano, then tennis again and then study
in the evening. So I was finishing my day at 11, 11.30. Every day was like that
from eight o’clock in the morning, but I loved it. I did some pretty big
concerts, and I can tell you I’ve never, ever been so nervous in my life. When
I was about 13, 14, a couple of hundred at least would be watching, maybe a
thousand. It was scary stuff, but it prepared me well for the tennis circuit so
it was good."
Back to business. Appearing on court before thousands of cheering fans is
great, of course, but there can be the occasional downside. The travel sounds
glamorous, but it can have its problems now and then.
"Sometimes you miss the flight connection or lose your bags, or you have
somebody you really don’t want to talk to sitting next to you on a flight, but
I can’t really complain too much," she said. "I’ve lost my bags two or three
times. Once I lost them before Indian Wells in 2002, but then I went on to win
it. I didn’t have clothes for the first three days so I was practising in
jeans!
"And, basically, you have to give up everything else in your life. It's not a
job from 8am to 4pm. You have to be committed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
People don't see everything we do. They see we go to beautiful places, but
we're in a different hotel room every week, for maybe 10 months of the year.
Okay, the hotels are nice ones, but it's not home. I get homesick a lot. But I
also know that it's a big privilege to do something in life you love, and I do
love tennis."
And people love watching her, and her many fans in Bali would like nothing
better than to see her lift the trophy.
韓娃喜歡吃壽司跟海鮮 難怪她每年都要去泛太平洋阿
韓娃喜歡喝熱可可
韓娃曾經因為丟掉包包 穿牛仔褲練習哩～！
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