Daniela Hantuchova in great form to defend her title – Tennis News
Slovakian icon, Daniela Hantuchova, is confident of defending her title after crushing the local wild card entrant, Nungnadda Wannasuk, with a bagel at the PTT Pattaya Open 2012. She is excited to return at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event taking place on the hard courts in Pattaya City, Thailand.
The former world number five assertively entered the Thai courts after pocketing both matches at the Fed Cup. She carried her winning ways in the opening round and slaughtered the wild card with a 6-2, 6-0 score line in almost an hour.
“It's great to be back defending my title from last year, which obviously brings back many great memories!” the Slovak tweeted on her day off at the Dusit Thani Hotel.
Seeded third in this tournament, Hantuchova outclassed her French rivals, Pauline Parmentier and Alize Cornet, at the Fed Cup before entering this WTA event. Hantuchova’s side was hosting the tie at the Aegon Arena in Bratislava and her victories were crucial in defeating the French team.
The 28-year-old further stated at the social networking site, “I just had one of the most memorable weekends back at home a couple of days ago, playing in front of all those amazing fans in Bratislava...It was something I will never forget and I don't remember ever having such an incredible atmosphere and such support during a Fed Cup tie.”
Hantuchova displayed outstanding skills this season and cruised into the title-round at the Brisbane International, the first WTA event of 2012. She shocked Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Dominika Cibulkova en route to the final showdown. In spite of exiting from the final round at the hands of Kaia Kanepi, the Slovak jumped three spots at the WTA Premier rankings. The Slovak then made a final eight appearance at the Apia International Sydney and reached the third round at the Australian Open, first of the four Grand Slam events.
Currently ranked 20th in the WTA rankings, Hantuchova will square off against the Polish challenger, Urszula Radwanska, in the round of 16.
With Dominika Cibulkova, the second seed, already out from the tournament, the only major barrier for the Slovak is Vera Zvonareva.
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