Second seed Daniela Hantuchova was chilling out in Bali after her loss in the final to Lindsay Davenport on Sunday. So she reached the city only late last night, and after cooking up quite a storm at a promotional pasta-cooking event this morning, she made short work of her day’s business on court at the Sunfeast Open at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here today.
She just took 61 minutes to get past Maria Domachowska of Poland 6-2, 6-1. Ranked 11 in the WTA rankings, she used her trademark double-handed backhand to which the Polish girl had no answer.
Hantuchova and her endless legs turn as many heads on the tennis court as her game. And today she showed that she meant business as she broke her opponent as early as in the second game of the first set. And she clinched the set with a break in the eighth game when Domachowska’s shot hit the net.
The second set was even more one-sided with the Polish girl able to hold her serve only once in the second game. Hantuchova won the next five on-the-trot to win the set 6-1.
And then she dazzled at the post match press conference too, dressed in a burnt orange georgette sari. “I wish I could wear this while playing,” she said, with a million dollar smile. “It was a good match. Like Bali, I just tried to give my best and I guess it worked for me. The match wasn’t as easy as it looked. My opponent played well,” she said.
... contd.