| 1998
- Played first ITF Circuit event, qualifying for ITF/Bratislava-SVK
1999 - Finished first full season ranked
No. 201; won first ITF Circuit titles at ITF/Jackson-USA
(as a qualifier) and ITF/Fano and reached SF at ITF/Bratislava-SVK
(d. Krizan, Sucha and Kleinova); made Tour debut at Bratislava
(l. 1r to Appelmans); also played Tour qualifying of Birmingham
2000 - Improved 93 spots to No. 108; reached first Tour
QF at Strasbourg (as a lucky loser) and Luxembourg (d. world
No. 7 Tauziat in 2r for first Top 10 win); also qualified
for Oklahoma City, reaching 2r; won first Tour doubles title
at Bratislava (w/Habsudova); won ITF/Bronx-USA as a qualifier;
received wildcard into Philadelphia, l. to Tauziat in 2r
2001 - Played all four Grand Slams for
first time, reaching 2r at Roland Garros and Wimbledon;
recorded second Top 10 win at Oklahoma City, d. world No.
10 Coetzer en route to first Tour SF (l. to No. 6 Capriati
in 3s); afterwards (26 February) broke into Top 100 at No.
86; in Canadian Open 2r, l. to Capriati again in 3s after
leading 75, 4-1; advanced to second career SF at Birmingham;
as a qualifier into Italian Open reached 3r (l. to Mauresmo
in 3s); at Wimbledon, won first Grand Slam title, claiming
mixed doubles crown w/Leos Friedl; reached three other QF
at Basel, Leipzig (as a qualifier, d. world No. 11 Dokic,
saving mp) and Zurich (as a qualifier, d. world No. 12 Shaughnessy,
l. to Davenport in 3s in first Tier I QF); won second career
doubles title at Luxembourg (w/Bovina); first Top 100 season-finish
at No. 38
2002 - Began season ranked No. 38, reaching
2r at Gold Coast (l. to Henin in 3s) and Sydney (after qualifying,
d. world No. 16 Mag. Maleeva); in Australian Open 3r, held
points for 5-4 third set lead on No. 2 seed V. Williams
before falling; reached doubles final (w/Sanchez-Vicario;
l. to Hingis/Kournikova in 3s) and won mixed doubles title
w/Kevin Ullyett, her second Grand Slam title in two attempts
in mixed doubles; at Paris Indoors, d. world No. 14 Mag.
Maleeva again en route to 2r; in Antwerp as No. 8 seed,
l. 2r to Bedanova; ranked No. 26 and seeded No.18, won first
WTA Tour singles title at Indian Wells (lowest seed to win
a Tier I event, breaking No. 14 seed Dokic’s record set
at 2001 Italian Open); scored career-best wins over world
No. 7 Henin and No. 4 Hingis en route; Hingis was appearing
in her 63rd career Tour singles final, while it was Hantuchova’s
first; became one of five players to win her debut singles
title at a Tier I event (instituted in 1980), others being
Bonder (1983 Tokyo Queens Grand Prix), Graf (1986 Family
Circle Cup), Majoli (Zurich 1995) and Dokic (2001 Italian
Open); afterwards (March 18), broke into Top 20 at No. 17,
first Slovak woman in Top 20 since Habsudova in September
1997; at Miami, l. 2r in 3s to Black; at Amelia Island,
fell 2r to Husarova but won doubles title, the third of
her career and first w/Sanchez-Vicario; in Charleston, l.
to wildcard Pierce in 3r; won a singles rubber and the deciding
doubles to lead Slovakia over Switzerland 3-2 in Fed Cup
1r; reached QF at Hamburg and held set point on world No.
4 Hingis before falling (reached doubles final w/Sanchez-Vicario);
seeded No. 11 at German Open, d. Suarez, Rubin and No. 6
seed Dokic to reach QF (l. to Smashnova in 3s); doubles
runner-up for second straight week w/Sanchez-Vicario; l.
1r at Italian Open to Myskina; seeded No. 11 at Roland Garros,
reached first Grand Slam 4r, l. to No. 6 seed and three-time
champion Seles 64 75 after being a break up in each set;
semifinalist for second time in 2002, at Eastbourne, d.
11-time champion Navratilova in 2r in 3s (at the time, Navratilova
was her mentor in the Tour’s Partners for Success program);
playing second Wimbledon and seventh Grand Slam, reached
first QF, d. world No. 7 Dokic in 4r (l. to S. Williams);
mixed doubles runner-up (w/Ullyett); in Fed Cup play, won
both singles rubbers vs. France, including win over Mauresmo
in 3s to lead Slovakia into SF; at San Diego, l. 2r to Sugiyama
7-5 final set, incurring a point penalty on match point
for her second time violation; later teamed up w/Sugiyama
to reach doubles final; seeded No. 6 at Los Angeles, l.
2r to Daniilidou; reached doubles final w/Sugiyama for second
straight week; reached SF at Canadian Open, her second Tier
I SF or better; l. to Mauresmo 62 76(3) after saving 2 mp
then holding two set points in second set; moved up to No.
11 for first time; reached SF the next week in New Haven
(l. to V. Williams) won doubles title (w/Sanchez-Vicario)
to move up to career-high No. 5 doubles ranking; at US Open,
reached second straight Grand Slam QF (l. S. Williams);
in fourth game of second set of 4r vs. Henin, with light
rain falling, slipped and injured her right thumb and left
ankle; play was halted until following day, with Hantuchova
winning 76 third set; reached QF in Leipzig (l. to Henin);
reached second career singles final in Filderstadt without
dropping a set (including quickest win of her career, 49-minute
61 62 victory over Stevenson) before falling in 3s to Clijsters;
recovered from 4-2 down to lead 4-all, 40-15 third set;
afterwards (October 14), broke into Top 10 at No. 9; reached
QF in Zurich, saving 4 mp to d. Dementieva 36 76(4) 76(6)
in 2r, l. to Schnyder 76 third set; reached Linz SF (l.
to Stevenson), rising to career-high No. 8; led Slovakia
to its first-ever Fed Cup title, d. Farina Elia in SF win
over Italy and in final, d. Serna 62 61 and C. Martinez
67(8) 75 64 in three hours, 21 minutes; qualified for season-ending
Championships in both singles and doubles (w/Sanchez-Vicario)
for first time; seeded No. 7 in singles, l. 1r to Mag. Maleeva;
withdrew from doubles due to Sanchez-Vicario’s right thigh
strain sustained in Fed Cup SF
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