AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2003

Daniela Hantuchova

MODERATOR: Questions for Daniela.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I wouldn't say it worries me because I'm working pretty hard on my physical training, you know, always trying to be strong and ready for every single match, always trying to do the right stuff. It's maybe because, you know, they play too much. I don't know why it is. Of course, I have to be careful myself, too. But I think, you know, to prevent these things, you just have to be careful what you do, how many tournaments you play. Yeah, so far I have to say I'm doing fine. Hopefully it will not scare me in the next couple of months and years.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I'm just at my beginning of my career, so I'm not thinking about it yet. Hopefully it's going to be, you know, a successful one. I mean, it's really hard to say how many years I'm going to play. But, you know, as long as I will have fun on the court and enjoy my tennis, I don't see any reasons to quit.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: Yeah, I started to play much better. At the beginning of the second set I just made too many errors. I just was thinking, you know, to stay calm, to get my game together, you know, to went for my shots. It paid off. I mean, I have to give her all the credit. She was playing today. I mean, she was hitting the ball really well. It was very tough against her. But I'm glad that I got through in two sets.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I watched a couple games of her match yesterday. It seems like, you know, quite a few of the top players are having problems in the first rounds. But I think it's good for the women's tennis. It just shows how, you know, difficult, how tough the players are at the moment, that it's on a very high level, the women's tennis, I think. I think it's great for the tennis that you can see such a good tennis from the first rounds.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I think, you know, it's a good experience for me. It shows me what I have to work hard on. It's good to be tested in the first few rounds because then it makes me sharper for the important matches.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I mean, you know, there are still many things that I have to improve and work on, and especially get more experience, because all the players that are in front of me are much longer on the tour. But I feel like I'm on the right way. I just have to keep working hard and hopefully one day I will get to the top.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I just think it's something that people are always going to talk about. As long as they can talk about my tennis as much as they do about these things, I will be happy. I think I'm proving it with my results, that tennis remains for me my No. 1 priority.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I think I'm totally different person to her. As I said, for me tennis is the most important thing. That's what I'm focusing on at the moment. You know, I mean, I understand that people come to watch the tennis not only because of the game. They want to see us, too. I think it's great for women's tennis.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I think I would prefer to, you know, talk about my tennis and about my match.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: You know, Adriana is a very experienced player. She played here very well last year, too, so I expected a tough match. Especially on Grand Slam, you never know what's going to happen the next day. You know, I'm just real glad that I got through in two sets, that was important.

DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: Well, definitely I feel very confident at the moment, especially the way I'm hitting the ball in the practice, it's great. I just hope to, you know, bring it into the matches. I'm trying not to look too far in the tournament, and take it match by match. But hopefully I will get as far as possible.