in her career. Hantuchová then lost to world No. 6 Ivanovic in the final, after leading the match, 6–3, 3–0. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Hantuchová defeated Šafářová in the first round, but lost in the second round to Dementieva. This loss, however, did not prevent Hantuchová from rising to world No. 9, her highest ranking in over four years. At the Tier-I Zurich Open, Hantuchová defeated Dinara Safina in the first round, before losing to Agnieszka Radwańska. One week later, Hantuchová won her third career title at the Tier-II Generali Ladies Linz. In the semifinals, she defeated Vaidišová for the first time in her career. Hantuchová then defeated Schnyder in a straight-sets final. This title enabled Hantuchová to qualify for the year-end WTA Tour Championships in Madrid. But Hantuchová did not advance past the round-robin stage. She lost to Sharapova and Ivanovic, before beating Kuznetsova to finish third in her group. Hantuchová's win–loss record for 2007 was 52–28. She was 6–11 versus top-10 players, with two victories against Hingis, two against Kuznetsova, one against Ivanovic, and one against Chakvetadze. The losses were to Clijsters, Mauresmo, Chakvetadze (twice), Kuznetsova (twice), Vaidišová, Serena Williams, Ivanovic (twice), and Sharapova. Hantuchová finished the year at world No. 9, her first top-ten finish since 2002. 2008: First Grand Slam semifinal She started the year at the Medibank International in Sydney. She defeated Dinara Safina in the first round, before losing to world No. 12, Czech Nicole Vaidišová, in the second round. At the Australian Open, Hantuchová reached her first Grand Slam semifinal. She won her first three matches without losing a set. In the quarterfinals, she beat Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwańska, who had defeated second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova in earlier rounds. Hantuchová then lost to Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals, despite Hantuchová's leading the second set 2–0. After the match, Hantuchová claimed that Ivanovic had been distracting her by squeaking her shoes on the court before serving, a claim Ivanovic disputed. Hantuchová's performance at this tournament caused her ranking to improve one spot to world No. 8. Hantuchová then played two indoor tournaments in Europe. At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, she lost to seventh-seeded Ágnes Szávay in the quarterfinals. She was the third-seeded player at Antwerp, where she again reached the quarterfinals. A blister on her right hand caused Hantuchová to retire during the quarterfinal against