also produced a web series for Tennis Channel and is hosting a podcast about sports and entertainment. Personal life Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist, and mother Marianna, a toxicologist. She was introduced to tennis by her grandmother Helena, a former Slovak national champion. When her parents split up in 2003, Hantuchová's performances temporarily worsened. At Wimbledon that year, she failed to convert several match points and was seen weeping on court. She also suffered from a weight problem during this period. She was suspected of being anorexic, but denied this, saying that her weight loss was due to over-training and that it had not affected her stamina. Hantuchová speaks fluent Slovak, Czech, English and German, as well as some Croatian and Italian. She was trained as a classical pianist. She is thought to be a perfectionist and puts a lot of pressure on herself during her training. Hantuchová qualified for university in Slovakia but deferred it to pursue tennis. She appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition alongside Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin in a pictorial entitled Volley of the Dolls. In July 2012, she appeared nude in the 2012 edition of ESPN: The Magazines "The Body Issue". She appeared on one of six special edition covers. Though widely considered to be a "sex symbol", Hantuchová has never considered herself as such, saying that modelling is "just fun to do from time to time". Career 1999: Turning pro Hantuchová turned professional in this year and took part in several ITF tournaments. She won a $25k tournament in Jackson in May, beating Milagros Sequera in the final; she won a $25k doubles tournament in Civitanova Marche in July, where she teamed up with Eva Dyrberg to beat Rosa María Andrés Rodríguez and Conchita Martínez Granados in the final; and won a $25k tournament in Fano in September, beating Flora Perfetti in the final. She also entered her first WTA tournament in October, that year's Eurotel Slovak Open, losing in the singles to Sabine Appelmans in the first round. She also entered the doubles with Ľudmila Cervanová. They beat Květa Peschke and Barbara Rittner in the round of 16 and lost to Nathalie Dechy and Henrieta Nagyová in the quarterfinals. 2000: First WTA quarterfinal Hantuchová's first WTA tournament of 2000 was the Australian Open, where she was knocked out in the second