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 Tour quarterfinal Hantuchová's first WTA tournament of 2000 was the
Australian Open, where she was knocked out in the second qualifying round. Her next event was the
U.S. Indoor Championships in Oklahoma City. She progressed through three qualifying rounds and beat
Shinobu Asagoe in the first round before losing to
Sarah Pitkowski-Malcor in the second round. Hantuchová's next three tournaments were the
Miami Open, where she received a wildcard and lost in the first round to
Elena Dementieva; the
MPS Group Championships, where she lost in the first qualifying round to
Pavlina Nola, and the
Belgian Open, where she lost in the first round to
Kim Clijsters. At
Strasbourg in May, Hantuchová reached her first ever WTA quarterfinal. She won three qualifying matches before beating
Iroda Tulyaganova and
Nadia Petrova in the first and second rounds, respectively. She lost the quarterfinal to
Rita Kuti-Kis. She did not enter the qualifiers for
that year's French Open. In her next four tournaments, the
Birmingham Classic,
Wimbledon, the
Austrian Open and the
US Open, she did not advance beyond the qualifying rounds. Between the Austrian Open and the US Open, Hantuchová won her final ITF tournament, at a $50k tournament held in the Bronx, she beat
Yi Jing-Qian in the final in straight sets. Hantuchová reached her second quarterfinal of the year at the
BGL Luxembourg Open when she beat
Virginie Razzano in the first round and
Nathalie Tauziat in the second round. She lost in the quarterfinals to
Barbara Rittner. At the
Slovak Indoors, she lost in the first round of the singles to
Anne Kremer. However, she and partner
Karina Habšudová won the doubles tournament. They were due to face
Petra Mandula and
Patricia Wartusch in the final, but they withdrew and Hantuchová and Habšudová won in a
walkover. It was Hantuchová's first WTA Tour title. Her final tournament of the year was the
Philadelphia Championships. In the first round, she beat
Alexandra Stevenson, who retired injured after the end of the first set. In the second round, she lost to
Nathalie Tauziat.
2001: First tour semifinal Hantuchová began 2001 at the
Sydney International, where she lost in the first qualifying round. She automatically qualified for the
Australian Open but lost to
Anna Kournikova in the first round. Hantuchová then reached her first ever WTA semifinal at the
U.S. Indoor Championships. She beat
Tara Snyder, third seed
Amanda Coetzer and
Anikó Kapros before losing to
Jennifer Capriati in the semifinals. Hantuchová then progressed through two qualifying rounds at the
Indian Wells Open but lost to
Rita Kuti-Kis in the first round of the main draw. She received a wildcard for the
Miami Open, but lost in the first round. Hantuchová played three Fed Cup matches for Slovakia in April, and then in the
German Open in May, where she lost in the second qualifying round to
Francesca Schiavone. At the
Italian Open, Hantuchová lost in the singles to eventual finalist
Amélie Mauresmo in the third round. She also competed in the doubles with Nagyová. They beat
Kerry-Anne Guse and
Alicia Molik in the first round,
Martina Navratilova and
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the second round,
Mary Pierce and
Ai Sugiyama in the quarterfinal and lost to
Paola Suárez and
Patricia Tarabini in the semifinal. Hantuchová's form saw her qualify automatically for the
French Open, beating Alexandra Stevenson in the first round and losing to eighth seed
Conchita Martínez in the second round. She again teamed up with Nagyová in the
doubles, reaching the third round. Hantuchová reached her second semifinal of the year at the
Birmingham Classic in June. She beat
Nathalie Dechy,
Eleni Daniilidou,
Nicole Pratt, and
Virginie Razzano, before falling to
Miriam Oremans in the semifinals. At the
Eastbourne International a week later, Hantuchová entered the
doubles with the previous year's champion Ai Sugiyama. They reached the semifinals, where they lost to second seeds
Cara Black and
Elena Likhovtseva. At
Wimbledon the week after, she beat Oremans in a rematch in the first round and lost to
Venus Williams in the second round. She also entered the
doubles, losing in the third round with
Karina Habšudová; and the
mixed doubles with
Leoš Friedl. Unseeded, they beat
Devin Bowen and
María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round, first seeds
Rennae Stubbs and
Todd Woodbridge in the second round, thirteenth seeds
Jiří Novák and
Miriam Oremans in the third round, fifteenth seeds
Donald Johnson and Karina Habšudová in the quarterfinal and
Kimberly Po and
David Rikl in the semifinal. In the final, they faced
Mike Bryan and
Liezel Huber, winning in three sets. It was then-18-year-old Hantuchová's first ever Grand Slam final appearance and victory. In July, Hantuchová was knocked out in the first round of the
Austrian Open by
Maja Palaveršić and played in the PreCon Open in Basel, losing to
Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian in the quarterfinal. She also took part in the doubles, partnering with
Magüi Serna and reaching the semifinals. Her next three tournaments were the
Canada Masters, where she lost to
Jennifer Capriati in the second round; the
New Haven Open, where she lost to Květa Peschke in the third qualifying round; and the
US Open, where she lost to Nathalie Dechy in the first round. In September, Hantuchová played in the
Sparkassen Cup. She progressed through three qualifying rounds, beat
Henrieta Nagyová in the first round and
Jelena Dokic in the second round before losing to Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinal. In October, Hantuchová won three qualifying matches at the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix but lost to
Patty Schnyder in the first round. At the
Zurich Open, she won three qualifying matches, beat
Meghann Shaughnessy and
Barbara Schett and lost to eventual winner
Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals. Her final event was the
Luxembourg Open, where she lost to
Anna Kournikova in the second round. She also played in the doubles with
Elena Bovina, reaching her second final of the year. They were unsuccessful, however, losing to
Bianka Lamade and
Patty Schnyder.
2002: Breakthrough year, Australian Open doubles final & mixed doubles title Hantuchová started the year as the world No. 38 at the
Gold Coast Hardcourts, where she lost to
Justine Henin in the second round. At the
Adidas International, Hantuchová was knocked out in the second round by Meghann Shaughnessy and went on to play at the
Australian Open. In the
singles, she was seeded 32nd and lost in the third round to second seed Venus Williams. In the
doubles, she and partner
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario were seeded thirteenth and reached the final, where they lost to Martina Hingis and
Anna Kournikova. In the
mixed doubles, she and partner
Kevin Ullyett also reached the final, where they beat
Gastón Etlis and
Paola Suárez, securing Hantuchová her second Grand Slam title in as many years. At the
Open Gaz de France and the
Proximus Diamond Games, Hantuchová lost in the second round, to
Francesca Schiavone and
Dája Bedáňová, respectively. In March, she went into the
Indian Wells Open ranked world No. 25, defeating
Tatiana Poutchek,
Barbara Schett,
Justine Henin,
Lisa Raymond, and
Emmanuelle Gagliardi en route to the final, where she beat world No. 4,
Martina Hingis. It was her first WTA Tour tournament win and she was the lowest-ranked player to ever win the event. She also reached the semifinals of the
doubles, where she and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario lost to eventual champions
Lisa Raymond and
Rennae Stubbs. The following month at the
Miami Open, the
Amelia Island Championships and the
Family Circle Cup, Hantuchová lost in the second round, to
Cara Black,
Janette Husárová, and
Mary Pierce, respectively. She had more success in the doubles. Continuing her partnership with Vicario, they won at Amelia Island and reached the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup. Hantuchová then reached successive singles quarterfinals in
Hamburg and
Berlin, losing to Martina Hingis and
Anna Smashnova, respectively. She and Vicario reached the doubles final of both, losing in Hamburg to
Martina Hingis and
Barbara Schett and in Berlin to
Elena Dementieva and
Janette Husárová. At the
Italian Open, Hantuchová lost in the first round to
Anastasia Myskina. She then entered the
French Open as the 11th seed, losing to former champion
Monica Seles in the fourth round. In the
mixed doubles, she and
Kevin Ullyett reached the quarterfinals. In June, she played at the Eastbourne International, reaching the semifinals in the
singles and the
doubles. At
Wimbledon, she again reached the singles quarterfinals, only to be beaten by the eventual champion,
Serena Williams. In the
doubles, she partnered with former world No. 1,
Jennifer Capriati, but they lost in the second round. In the
mixed doubles, she and Ullyett reached their second Grand Slam final of the year. This time, they were unsuccessful, losing to
Mahesh Bhupathi and
Elena Likhovtseva. Her US Open Series was modest, as she lost in the second round of San Diego and Los Angeles, after having first-round byes in both tournaments. She reached the semifinals of the Tier-I-event in Montreal, losing to
Amélie Mauresmo, and New Haven, losing to world No. 2
Venus Williams. At the final Grand Slam of the year, Hantuchová defeated
1997 French Open champion
Iva Majoli in round three, and world No. 6
Justine Henin, only to be beaten in her second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal by Serena Williams (who again went on to win the title). Later that year, Hantuchová also reached the quarterfinals in Leipzig and the final in Filderstadt, losing to
Kim Clijsters. The second set was the only set Hantuchová had taken from Clijsters in their nine meetings. She then went on to reach the quarterfinals of Zurich, losing to eventual champion
Patty Schnyder in three tight sets, and the semifinals in Linz, and winning both of her singles rubbers in the Fed Cup final. This impressive season amassed her enough points to compete at the annual Tour Championships, losing in the first round to 17th ranked
Magdalena Maleeva. Hantuchová's record for the year was 56–25 and 6–10 against top-10 players; 6–2 in singles Fed Cup play; 10–6 on indoor carpet, 6–2 on grass, 11–7 on clay, and 29–10 on hardcourts.
2003: World No. 5, a tough year Hantuchová started 2003 solidly, reaching the quarterfinals at her first three events in Sydney, losing to Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, at the Australian Open (her third Grand Slam quarterfinal in a row), and
Elena Dementieva in Paris. Hantuchová reached her first semifinal of the year at her fourth event in Antwerp, losing to Williams again. By then, Hantuchová's ranking was at a career-high No. 5. Defending a title for the first time in her career, Hantuchová advanced to the fourth round in Indian Wells, losing to
Amanda Coetzer. Despite a first-round loss to
Alicia Molik in Miami, Hantuchová rebounded in the Tier-I Charleston event, making her fifth quarterfinal in seven events, losing to
Ashley Harkleroad. She made her sixth quarterfinal at her next event in Amelia Island, losing to eventual champion Dementieva. Hantuchová went undefeated in first-round Fed Cup play against Germany, winning both of her matches. Following the Fed Cup, she again made it to the quarterfinals for the seventh time of the year at the Tier-I Berlin tournament, losing to Kim Clijsters. At the French Open, Hantuchová lost in the second round in a marathon match to Harkleroad again, making 101 unforced errors, leading to long-time coach
Nigel Sears criticising her attitude publicly. Following the match, her extremely thin physique was noticed for the first time publicly, and some wondered about Hantuchová's health. Kicking off the grass season in Eastbourne, Hantuchová lost in the quarterfinals to
Conchita Martínez, but more famously she lost in the second round of Wimbledon to
Shinobu Asagoe, with Hantuchová breaking down crying during the latter stages of the match and making 57 unforced errors. Some theorized that the media's continued interest regarding her weight and the pressure of success at 19 years of age, in addition to her on-court breakdown and her parents' divorce, as well as her coach's walking out in the middle of the match, led to this breakdown. Following Wimbledon, Hantuchová went 6–8 for the rest of the year, 0–4 against top-ten players She ended the year with an overall record of 28–23, and she fell to No. 17 in the world. Further signs of the pressure and problems she was facing during this period was that, in July, she made herself unavailable for Slovakia in the Fed Cup in order to concentrate on her singles career, and in November she parted company with Sears.
2004: Eastbourne final 2004 proved to be a continuation of Hantuchová's poor second half of 2003, with many of the same struggles (she briefly hired Harold Solomon, who had previously coached her friend Jennifer Capriati, as well as
Anna Kournikova, before re-hiring Sears in March), She reached just three quarterfinals, the first at the first Tier-I event in Tokyo was not until halfway through the season. At Tokyo, however, she garnered her thus far only victory over
Maria Sharapova in the second round, falling to Davenport in the quarterfinals. The tournament that saved her from a poor 2004 was Eastbourne, in which she defeated Sugiyama in the quarterfinals, and Mauresmo in the semifinals, before losing to Kuznetsova in the third final of her career. However, Hantuchová was serving for the championship, up 6–2, 6–5, but was broken. Hantuchová was ranked No. 54 as she entered Eastbourne, but found herself ranked No. 38 as she went into Wimbledon, losing to eventual champion Sharapova in the third round. Hantuchová made one more quarterfinal at New Haven, losing to Lisa Raymond. At the US Open one week later, Hantuchová lost in three sets to Patty Schnyder in the third round. She finished the year ranked no. 31, with a 24–24 win–loss record. She finished 1–4 against top-10 players overall, the sole victory over Mauresmo.
2005: Two mixed-doubles titles, and career Grand Slam in mixed doubles Hantuchová reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to Dementieva in a tight three-setter. Following that, she made her first quarterfinal of the year in Tokyo for the second straight year, losing to Kuznetsova. At her next event, she reached the semifinals in Doha, losing to Sharapova. Then, she made another quarterfinal at her next tournament in Dubai, losing to Serena Williams. At Dubai also, in the first round, she garnered her tenth top-10 victory over No. 8
Alicia Molik. Hantuchová made the third round at the French Open and Wimbledon, losing to Clijsters in Paris, and eventual champion
Venus Williams in England. Hantuchová had a successful US Open series run, where she reached the semifinals in Cincinnati, getting upset by No. 74
Akiko Morigami. In Stanford, Hantuchová lost to Clijsters in the quarterfinals. After a second-round loss in San Diego to Sugiyama, Hantuchová reached her fourth final in Los Angeles, getting a walkover in the quarterfinals over Sharapova, and got revenge against Dementieva in the semifinals. In the final, for the seventh time in their head-to-head, Clijsters defeated Hantuchová in straight sets. For the third time at the event, Hantuchová made the quarterfinals in New Haven, before losing to Davenport. Hantuchová lost to eventual quarterfinalist Venus Williams in the third round at the US Open. She won the mixed doubles, completing a career grand slam in mixed doubles. She has largely retired from the mixed doubles since then, saying that she "felt like it's time to move on and focus on my singles." In Luxembourg, Hantuchová made her eighth quarterfinal of the season, losing to
Nathalie Dechy. In Filderstadt the following week, Hantuchová made the semifinals, her third of the year, defeating No. 10 Patty Schnyder in the second round and
Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals. She lost to Davenport in the semifinals. At the final Tier-I event of the year, Hantuchová pushed Davenport to three sets and had match points in the second set in Zurich, before losing. In her final event of the year, in Linz, Hantuchová made her tenth quarterfinal, losing to Schnyder. Hantuchová finished 2005 with a 3–10 record against the top 10, 37–25 overall record, with 2–1 on indoor carpet, 3–4 on clay, 2–3 on grass, and 30–17 on hardcourts, reaching ten quarterfinals, three semifinals, and one final.
2006: French Open doubles final Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals of Sydney in 2006 with a win over top-ten player Patty Schnyder and got to the semifinals of Auckland. She continued this form at the Australian Open with her third-round victory over defending champion and seven-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, who had entered the tournament with a lack of match practice and questions over her fitness. This victory (the only over Serena in her career) ensured that Hantuchová would progress to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in three years. She lost to fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova in straight sets in the fourth round. Thereafter, she was unable to find a consistent level of form. Prior to the clay-court season, she parted company for a second time (and permanently) with Sears. He was replaced by Angel Giminez. She then played her first Fed Cup matches for Slovakia in almost three years. It was a successful return, with Hantuchová winning both her singles and her doubles matches against
Luxembourg, her singles match against The Netherlands, and the decisive singles rubber in the tie against Great Britain. With the help of Hantuchová's 4–0 record, Slovakia booked a place in the World Group II play-off against
Thailand. Despite disappointing results in the warm-up tournaments, she reached the fourth round of both the French Open and Wimbledon, before extending her 2006 Fed Cup record to 6–0 by winning both her singles matches in Slovakia's 5–0 rout of Thailand, which ensured their promotion to the World Group II. Her fourth-round streak at Grand Slams ended when she was beaten by a resurgent Serena Williams in the second round of the US Open, which was the culmination of a very disappointing American hardcourt season (her record was 7–6 including the US Open, failing to get past the round of 16 of any of the tournaments she entered). Hantuchová beat
Tatiana Golovin in straight sets, before losing to
Dinara Safina. The following week, she reached the quarterfinals of Stuttgart with an easy victory over the then top-ten player Safina in the second round. This was both her first victory over a top-ten player and first appearance in a quarterfinal since January. In October 2006, Hantuchová reached the final of the Zurich Open. In the first round, she upset sixth seed
Patty Schnyder. In the second round, she defeated her doubles partner
Ai Sugiyama. Hantuchová was then scheduled to play world No. 1
Amélie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals. However, Mauresmo withdrew due to a right shoulder injury. In the semifinals, Hantuchová upset world No. 4
Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the final of the Tier-I event. In the final, Hantuchová lost in a three-setter to second seed
Maria Sharapova. The results in this tournament were the culmination of Hantuchová's up-turn of form, which kept her in the top 20, as she had arrived in Zurich outside the top group for the first time in over 11 months. The injury she suffered to her right rib after
Mary Pierce hit a shot at her in doubles, caused her the most serious injury of her career and also forced her to retire in her match against Vesnina the following week in Linz. Hantuchová finished the year ranked No. 17 in the world, with a 34–25 record. She went 24–17 on hardcourts, 5–4 on clay, 3–2 on grass, and 2–2 on carpet. She was 4–6 against top-10 players, beating Schnyder twice, Safina, and Kuznetsova, with losses to Sharapova (twice), Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne, Dementieva, and
Nadia Petrova.
2007: Winning in Indian Wells for the second time Hantuchová's first tournament of the year was at the
Auckland Open, where she lost in the second round to
Virginie Razzano. Hantuchová then lost to
Nicole Vaidišová in the first round of the Tier-II
Sydney International and reached her second consecutive Australian Open fourth round, where she lost to world No. 5, Kim Clijsters. Hantuchová was then upset in the first round of the Tier-I
Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo by
Roberta Vinci. Three weeks later at the Tier-II Dubai Championships, Hantuchová defeated
Maria Kirilenko in the second round, before losing her quarterfinal match against
Amélie Mauresmo in three sets. The following week at the Tier-II
Qatar Open, Hantuchová trailed world No. 6,
Martina Hingis, in their quarterfinal match 4–1 in the second set, before coming back to win. She then lost her semifinal match against world No. 5,
Svetlana Kuznetsova. In her seventh tournament of the year, Hantuchová won six matches, the last four of which were upsets of higher seeded players, to win the Tier I Indian Wells Open. She upset Hingis in the fourth round, Shahar Pe'er in the quarterfinals,
Li Na in the semifinals, and Kuznetsova in the final in straight sets. 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 having won the first set 6–0, and 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
Timea Bacsinszky. Hantuchová was then scheduled to play at the Qatar Open, the first Tier-I event of the year, and the Dubai Championships, a Tier-II event, but withdrew from both because of fatigue. Hantuchová played both of the two-week Tier I events in the United States. At
Indian Wells, Hantuchová was the defending champion and fifth seed. She lost to fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. In doubles, Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama lost in the semifinals to Safina and
Elena Vesnina, the eventual champions. At the Miami Open, Hantuchová failed to reach the fourth round for the ninth consecutive year. She lost to former doubles partner Sugiyama in the third round, despite leading 3–0 in the third set. In doubles, Hantuchová partnered with Lindsay Davenport to reach the quarterfinals, where they lost to Sugiyama and
Katarina Srebotnik, who went on to win the event. The following week at the Tier-II event on clay in Amelia Island, Hantuchová was the third seed, but lost in the second round to
Karolina Šprem. Hantuchová spent the month of May and most of June recovering from a stress fracture in her right foot, which resulted in her withdrawal from the Tier-I Italian Open in Rome, the Tier III
İstanbul Cup, the French Open, and the Rosmalen Open in 's-Hertogenbosch. She recovered in time for
Wimbledon, but lost in the second round to unseeded
Alisa Kleybanova. Hantuchová played four hardcourt tournaments between Wimbledon and the US Open. She lost in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford and in the second round of the following week's tournament, the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. Hantuchová was seeded tenth at the
Beijing Olympics. She defeated Sugiyama in the first round, before losing in the second round to
Caroline Wozniacki. The following week at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Hantuchová lost in the quarterfinals to
Alizé Cornet. Hantuchová was seeded eleventh at the
US Open, where she was upset in the first round by qualifier
Anna-Lena Grönefeld. To end the year, Hantuchová played seven tournaments in Asia and Europe. She lost in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Classic in Bali and in the first round of the Tier-I Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to
Francesca Schiavone. In Beijing at the China Open, she lost to world No. 2, Jelena Janković, in the quarterfinals. After losing in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the second round of the Tier-I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, and the second round of the Zurich Open, Hantuchová was seeded third at the Luxembourg Open. However, she lost to world No. 39
Sorana Cîrstea in the quarterfinals. Because she won only 11 of 26 singles matches after the Indian Wells tournament, Hantuchová finished the year ranked world No. 21, her lowest year-end ranking and first finish out of the top 20 since 2004. She was 0–5 during the year versus players ranked in the top ten at the time the matches were played, with losses to Ivanovic, Sharapova, Janković, and Zvonareva (twice).
2009: Australian Open doubles runner-up and consistent results in singles Hantuchová began the
2009 WTA Tour by participating in the
Brisbane International as the tournament's fourth-seeded player. She was upset in the first round by
Sara Errani. Hantuchová then played the
Sydney International, where she lost in the second round to sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska. At the
Australian Open, Hantuchová was seeded 19th and defeated home favorite
Casey Dellacqua in their first-round match. She then beat
Mathilde Johansson of France in the second round, before losing to 15th-seeded
Alizé Cornet in the third round in three sets. In the doubles competition, Hantuchová and her partner Ai Sugiyama made it to the final, where they lost to Serena and Venus Williams. At the
Paris Indoors, Hantuchová beat
Ekaterina Makarova in the first round, before losing to Cornet in the second round. This was the third consecutive time she has lost to Cornet. Hantuchová then played in the
Dubai Championships, where she lost to eventual runner-up
Virginie Razzano in the third round. Because of her results at this tournament, Hantuchová's ranking improved five places to world No. 36. At
Indian Wells, Hantuchová was the only two-time singles champion in the draw. Seeded 30th, Hantuchová fell to
Sybille Bammer in the fourth round. Unseeded for the first time since 2001 at the Miami Open, Hantuchová lost to 22nd-seeded
Anna Chakvetadze in the second round. Starting off the spring clay-court season, as a wildcard at the Amelia Island Championships, Hantuchová defeated eighth-seeded
Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round. She then lost to eventual champion and second seed
Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. Playing in the Fed Cup World Group play-offs, Hantuchová defeated Alizé Cornet in the first-round rubber, but lost to Amélie Mauresmo in her next match. Hantuchová played four tournaments before
Roland Garros on European clay. She lost in the early rounds of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the Rome Masters and the Madrid Masters to Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Jelena Janković, respectively. In doubles at Rome, Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama defeated top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the quarterfinals. However, the pair lost to
Hsieh Su-wei and
Peng Shuai in the final. Her fourth event was the
Warsaw Open, where she reached her second career clay-court semifinal, but lost to Romanian qualifier and eventual champion
Alexandra Dulgheru. Hantuchová was unseeded at the
French Open and lost to Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano in the first round. On grass, Hantuchová was seeded sixth in
's-Hertogenbosch. She fell to top seed Safina in the quarterfinals. Competing at her ninth
Wimbledon, Hantuchová was unseeded in singles for the first time since 2004. She came from behind to defeat local teenager
Laura Robson in the first round. She then upset 16th seed and the previous year's semifinalist
Zheng Jie, and doubles partner Sugiyama. However, Hantuchová fell to second seed and eventual champion Serena Williams in the fourth round. Hantuchová played her first-round match at the
Stanford Classic, winning in three sets against defending champion
Aleksandra Wozniak. She then defeated seventh seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the second round, but fell to third seed Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals. In Los Angeles at the
LA Championships, she lost to Dinara Safina. In the
Western & Southern Open, she lost to Flavia Pennetta, after upsetting seventh seed
Vera Zvonareva. In
Toronto, she fell to qualifier
Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round. Hantuchová was seeded 22nd at the
US Open. She defeated
Meghann Shaughnessy, Timea Bacsinszky, and
Vania King, but fell in the fourth round to second seed and defending champion Serena Williams. At the
Korea Open, Hantuchová was the top seed, but was upset by eventual champion
Kimiko Date-Krumm in the quarterfinals. She then competed in the
Pan Pacific Open and the
China Open, where she reached the second round in both, before losing in three sets to 11th seed Agnieszka Radwańska and 13th seed Nadia Petrova, respectively. Hantuchová finished the season in Europe at the
Luxembourg Open, where she was upset by unseeded Shahar Pe'er in the quarterfinals. Hantuchová finished outside the top 20 for the second consecutive year at No. 24, with a win–loss record of 39–25. She went 25–16 on hard courts, 9–7 on clay, and 5–2 on grass. She was 1–9 versus top-10 players, with losses to Radwańska, Kuznetsova, Janković, Dementieva, Serena Williams (twice), and Safina (three times), with the sole victory over Zvonareva.
2010: Steady ranking Hantuchová started the
2010 WTA Tour by competing at the
Brisbane International. Seeded fourth, Hantuchová was upset by unseeded
Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinals. At the
Sydney International, she fell to fifth seed and eventual champion Elena Dementieva in the second round. Seeded 22nd at the
Australian Open, Hantuchová fell to 16th seed and eventual semifinalist
Li Na in the third round. Hantuchová defeated
Zhang Shuai in the
Fed Cup tie against China in Bratislava prior to the
Dubai Championships. In Dubai, she upset fifth seed Dementieva through retirement, after winning the first set 6–4. However, she fell to
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. Hantuchová was seeded second at the
Monterrey Open. She became one of the favorites after top seed Jelena Janković fell in the first round. Hantuchová fought from a set down to beat unseeded
Vania King in the quarterfinals, and fourth seed
Dominika Cibulková in the semifinals. However, she fell to third seed
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final. It was Hantuchová's first final since
Linz in 2007. Hantuchová was upset at
Indian Wells by
Roberta Vinci in the second round, after injuring her back during training earlier that day. However, she achieved a career best result at the
Miami Open. She reached the fourth round after recording straight-set victories over Patty Schnyder and 16th seed Nadia Petrova, but lost a very tight three-set match to third seed and eventual finalist Venus Williams in nearly three hours. Hantuchová began the clay-court season by competing at the
Charleston Cup in South Carolina. She upset second seed and world No. 7,
Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals. However, she fell to fourth seed and eventual champion
Samantha Stosur in her third career clay-court semifinal. Hantuchová then helped Slovakia earn a place in the World Group I for the 2011 Fed Cup by scoring two singles victories and a doubles victory in the
World Group play-offs against Serbia. She again defeated world No. 7 Janković in one of her singles matches for a second week in a row. Despite first-round loses in the
Italian Open in Rome and in the
Madrid Open, Hantuchová rebounded at the
French Open. Seeded 23rd, she upset 16th seed
Yanina Wickmayer in the third round, but fell to fourth seed Jelena Janković in the fourth round. Hantuchová played two tournaments on grass. She was defeated by Samantha Stosur at the
Eastbourne International and was then upset by
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová at
Wimbledon. To start off the US Open Series, Hantuchová lost in the opening-round to sixth seed Shahar Pe'er at the
Stanford Classic. At the
San Diego Open, she upset sixth seed Marion Bartoli in the first round, saving three match points. She then beat Zheng Jie and Alisa Kleybanova to advance to the semifinals, where she fell to Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets. Hantuchová then fell in the first rounds of the
Cincinnati Open, and the
Rogers Cup to eventual semifinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and 15th seed Flavia Pennetta, respectively. At the
Pilot Pen Tennis, she fell to Dinara Safina. As the 24th seed, Hantuchová defeated Dinara Safina and Vania King at the
US Open, before falling to 12th seed
Elena Dementieva in the third round. Hantuchová fell in the early rounds in both the
Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan and the
China Open. At the
Generali Ladies Linz, Hantuchová was upset by Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals. At the
Luxembourg Open, she lost again in the early rounds to
Angelique Kerber in three sets. Hantuchová received a wildcard to the
Tournament of Champions in Bali. She upset
Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets, but fell to Alisa Kleybanova in the semifinals. She also lost the third-place match to Kimiko Date-Krumm. Hantuchová finished outside the top 20 for the third consecutive year at No. 30, with a win–loss record of 35–25. She was 3–5 versus top-10 players, with losses to Dementieva, Venus Williams, Janković, Stosur, and Radwańska, and with victories over Dementieva and Janković (twice).
2011: Fifth WTA title Hantuchová withdrew from her first tournament of the year at the
Brisbane International due to a left Achilles strain. She competed next at the
Sydney International, but suffered a loss to
María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round. At the
Australian Open, she was the 28th seed, but lost in the first round to
Regina Kulikova in three sets. This is the first time Hantuchová had lost in the first round of the Australian Open, except her first appearance. She then played at the
Pattaya Open, where she defeated
Kurumi Nara, Kimiko Date-Krumm, and
Akgul Amanmuradova, all in straight sets to reach the semifinals. There she upset top seed, world No. 3 and defending champion
Vera Zvonareva. Hantuchová then won her first title in more than three years by defeating Sara Errani in the final. Despite this, she fell to
Anna Chakvetadze in the first round of the
Dubai Championships the following week. However, she rebounded at the
Qatar Open by upsetting sixth seed Victoria Azarenka in the first round, but fell in the quarterfinals to second seed and eventual champion Vera Zvonareva, despite serving for the match at 5–4 in the final set. At the
Indian Wells Open and the
Miami Open, Hantuchová lost in the early rounds to Dinara Safina and top seed Caroline Wozniacki, respectively. Partnering Agnieszka Radwańska, she reached the semifinals in Indian Wells, falling to the eventual champions, but won the doubles title in Miami, defeating Nadia Petrova and Liezel Huber. On clay, Hantuchová was upset in the third round of the
Family Circle Cup in Charleston by
Christina McHale. Hantuchová next competed on European red clay at the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the
Madrid Open and the
Italian Open. She fell in the early rounds of all three to Samantha Stosur in both Stuttgart and Madrid and to second seed Francesca Schiavone in Rome. However, Hantuchová rebounded at the
Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she upset fourth seed Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals, but fell to second seed Andrea Petkovic in the semifinals in three sets. Seeded 28th at the
French Open, Hantuchová defeated
Zhang Shuai and
Sara Errani in the first two rounds, both in straight sets. She then upset top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, 6–1, 6–3 for her first win over a reigning world No. 1. However, Hantuchová fell to 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round. Hantuchová reached her second career grass-court final at the
Birmingham Classic, upsetting second seed Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals, before falling to unseeded
Sabine Lisicki. Competing at the
Eastbourne International, Hantuchová defeated second seed Li Na and Venus Williams, before retiring to fifth seed
Petra Kvitová in the semifinals. Seeded 25th at the
Wimbledon, Hantuchová fell to fourth seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round. Hantuchová fell in the early rounds of both the
Bank of the West Classic and the
Rogers Cup in Toronto. She reached her sixth and seventh quarterfinals of the season at the
Carlsbad Open and at the
Cincinnati Open, but fell to third seed Agnieszka Radwańska and second seed Vera Zvonareva, respectively. After a first-round loss at the
US Open to
Pauline Parmentier, Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals of the
Bell Challenge and the
Ladies Linz losing to
Marina Erakovic and top seed Petra Kvitová, respectively. Hantuchová finished the year at world No. 24 with a win loss record of 41–29. She went 5–11 against the top ten, with victories over Zvonareva, Azarenka, Wozniacki, Li Na, and Bartoli.
2012: Back-to-back Thailand Open championships and injuries Hantuchová began the year at the
Brisbane International, where she reached her first final of the year, defeating
Dominika Cibulková and Vania King, before receiving a walkover in the quarterfinals when Serena Williams pulled out of the event with an ankle sprain. In the semifinals, she lost the first set to Kim Clijsters, before the Belgian retired with a hip injury midway through the second. In the final, Hantuchová was easily defeated by
Kaia Kanepi. In
Sydney, Hantuchová upset Francesca Schiavone in the second round, before falling to second seed Petra Kvitová in the quarterfinals. Seeded No. 20 at the
Australian Open, Hantuchová fell to eventual semifinalist and defending champion Clijsters, in straight sets in the third round. At
Pattaya, she successfully defended her title by defeating fourth seed Maria Kirilenko in the final. However, Hantuchová was upset in the first round of the
Qatar Ladies Open in Doha the following week by
Simona Halep. At the
Dubai Championships, she fell in the quarterfinals to eventual finalist,
Julia Görges. Hantuchová then suffered relatively unsuccessful tournaments in
Indian Wells and
Miami. She fell in the second round after a bye to Czech
Klára Zakopalová. In Miami, she defeated
Kateryna Bondarenko in a third-set tiebreaker, before falling to
Ana Ivanovic. At the Fed Cup against Spain, she lost to
Sílvia Soler Espinosa, before defeating
Lourdes Domínguez Lino to clinch the tie 3–2 for Slovakia. During the match against Spain, Hantuchová suffered a stress fracture in her foot which laid her up for two months and forced her to miss the whole clay-court season. Hantuchová lost her first-round match at Wimbledon 2012 against
Jamie Hampton. At the
London Olympics, Hantuchová upset tenth seed Li Na in the first round. She then beat Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet in the second round. She faced eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the third round and lost. Hantuchová did not have the best US Open Series, winning only one match in four tournaments. At the
Rogers Cup Hantuchová, lost in two tough sets to
Aleksandra Wozniak. At the
Western & Southern Open, Hantuchová beat Zheng Jie in the first round, but lost to seventh seed Sara Errani in straight sets. Hantuchová lost in the first round of the
New Haven Open to
Mona Barthel. At the
US Open, she lost to 17th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. At the
Pan Pacific Open, Hantuchová beat
Ekaterina Makarova in the first round, but then lost to tenth seed Caroline Wozniacki. Hantuchová lost in the first round of the
China Open to seventh seed Petra Kvitová. She lost to fifth seed
Julia Görges in straight sets at the
Generali Ladies Linz. Hantuchová recorded her best result in months at the
Luxembourg Open, where she made it to the semifinals. She lost to
Monica Niculescu in straight sets. Hantuchová finished her year with three straight losses at the
Tournament of Champions to Wozniacki, Roberta Vinci, and
Hsieh Su-wei. On reflection, Hantuchová said that 2012 was a difficult year for her. She struggled with niggling injuries even before she fractured her foot and was forced out for two months. As a result, her form was inconsistent and she suffered ten first-round defeats. She said: "I think 2012 has been a difficult year for me. Had a great start to the season, making the final in Brisbane, winning in Pattaya and feeling very good about my game, but unfortunately, suffered a fracture stress... that kept me away from the tracks for two months." However, she said that playing in the Olympics at Wimbledon, where she reached the third round, was a "special moment".
2013: Sixth career title, second US Open quarterfinal and return to the top 50 Hantuchová started her year off in January with a quarterfinal appearance at the
Brisbane International, beating
Lourdes Domínguez Lino and fifth seed Sara Errani, before losing to
Lesia Tsurenko. She then suffered two successive first-round defeats: at the
Sydney International to
Ayumi Morita and at the
Australian Open to
Chan Yung-jan. At the
Pattaya Open at the end of the month, Hantuchová was the defending champion, but after beating
Olga Puchkova in the first round, she had to retire during her second-round match against
Nina Bratchikova. Hantuchová's next two matches were
first-round Fed Cup ties in February for Slovakia against Serbia. She won them both, beating
Bojana Jovanovski and
Vesna Dolonc in straight sets, helping her team progress to the quarterfinals. Hantuchová's next tournament was the
Qatar Ladies Open, where she beat
Laura Robson and
Ekaterina Bychkova, losing in the third round to sixth seed Sara Errani. At the
Dubai Tennis Championships, Hantuchová entered the qualifiers. She beat Karolína Plíšková, recorded a walkover against Simona Halep and beat
Carla Suárez Navarro. In the first round of the main draw, she lost to sixth seed Petra Kvitová. In March, Hantuchová reached the second round in back-to-back tournaments. First, the
Indian Wells Open, beating
Stéphanie Foretz Gacon and losing to top seed and defending champion Victoria Azarenka. Then, the
Miami Open, beating
Tsvetana Pironkova and losing to sixth seed Errani. At the
Family Circle Cup in April, she lost in the first round to
Marina Erakovic. In the
Fed Cup semifinal against Russia, Hantuchová beat
Maria Kirilenko, but lost in three sets to
Ekaterina Makarova as Slovakia was defeated 3–2. At the
Marrakech Grand Prix at the end of the month, she lost to
Olga Puchkova. At the
Madrid Open in May, Hantuchová received a wild card and beat
Sloane Stephens and eighth seed Kvitová, before losing to
Kaia Kanepi in the third round. At the
Italian Open, Hantuchová lost in the second qualifying round to
Simona Halep. Hantuchová then suffered two first-round defeats, at the
Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she was seeded eighth, to
María Teresa Torró Flor, and then at the
French Open, to Jelena Janković. Hantuchová won her first tournament of 2013 in June at the
Birmingham Classic. Unseeded for the tournament, she beat qualifier
Casey Dellacqua in the first round. In the second, she beat seventh seed
Laura Robson, securing her 500th career win and becoming only the 37th woman in the Open Era to do so. She then beat 12th seed
Kristina Mladenovic, and in the quarterfinals 15th seed
Francesca Schiavone. In the semifinals she defeated qualifier
Alison Riske, and in the final
Donna Vekić. Her first match after that was at the
Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, where she received a wild card and retired in her first-round match against
Lesia Tsurenko. At the
Wimbledon Championships, she lost in the first round again, this time against
Klára Zakopalová. Hantuchová began her
US Open Series at the end of July at the
Bank of the West Classic, winning in the first round against Yanina Wickmayer, but losing in the second round against seventh seed
Urszula Radwańska. In
doubles she and Lisa Raymond were seeded third. They reached the semifinals, where they lost to first seeds and eventual champions
Raquel Kops-Jones and
Abigail Spears. In the
Southern California Open at the start of August, she defeated
Tamira Paszek in the first round, and lost in the second round to second seed Agnieszka Radwańska. In the
doubles she teamed up with
Martina Hingis, for whom it was a comeback to the WTA tour. They reached the quarterfinals, again losing to the third seeds and eventual champions Kops-Jones and Spears. Hantuchová did not enter the
singles of the Canadian Open, but she and Hingis did enter the
doubles. They received a wild card, beating Kerber and Kvitová in the first round and losing to Julia Görges and
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the second round. At the
Cincinnati Open, Hantuchová received a wildcard, but lost in the first round to Andrea Petkovic. In
doubles, she and Hingis reached the second round, losing to first seeds Errani and Roberta Vinci. At the
New Haven Open, Hantuchová was defeated in the first round by eventual champion Simona Halep. In the
doubles, Hantuchová and Hingis received a wildcard and were stopped in the first round by Cara Black and Vania King. At the
US Open, Hantuchová beat
Maria Sanchez in the first round, to advance beyond the first round of a major for the first time since the 2012 Australian Open. She then beat
Victoria Duval in the second round and Israeli qualifier
Julia Glushko in a tough match in the third round. Hantuchová was at one point down 3–6, 2–4 and faced four match points in the final set, but came back to win. She beat Alison Riske in the fourth round and advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open for the first time since
2002 and for the first time at any Grand Slam since the
2008 Australian Open. She faced second seed Victoria Azarenka and lost. In
doubles, Hantuchová and Hingis received a wildcard, but lost a re-match against top seeds Errani and Vinci.
2014: Inconsistency Hantuchová began the
Australian Open Series in the first round of the
Brisbane International, where she lost in an upset to
Ashleigh Barty. In
doubles, she and
Sabine Lisicki lost to top-seeded Peschke and Srebotnik. Hantuchová, then lost in the first round of the
Sydney International to wild-card
Ajla Tomljanović. She and
Arantxa Parra Santonja beat
Darija Jurak and
Megan Moulton-Levy in the first round of the
doubles, but lost to fourth seeds
Raquel Kops-Jones and
Abigail Spears in the second. At the
2014 Australian Open, she was seeded 31st and defeated
Heather Watson in the first round and Karolína Plíšková in the second round. She lost to top seed Serena Williams in the third round. In the
doubles, Hantuchová and
Lisa Raymond were seeded 15th and beat
Mandy Minella and
Chanelle Scheepers in the first round and
Magdaléna Rybáriková and
Stefanie Vögele in the second round. They lost to third seeds Ekaterina Makarova and
Elena Vesnina in the third round. In
mixed doubles, Hantuchová and
Leander Paes beat
Ajla Tomljanović and
James Duckworth in the first round and eighth seeds
Elena Vesnina and
Mahesh Bhupathi in the second round. They lost to Kristina Mladenovic and
Daniel Nestor in the quarterfinals. Hantuchová's next tournament was the
Indoors in Paris. She defeated
Marina Erakovic in
the singles, but was beaten by top seed
Maria Sharapova in round two. In
doubles, she and Petra Kvitová lost to fellow wildcards Alizé Cornet and
Caroline Garcia in the first round. She then played at the
Qatar Open, where she had to withdraw during the second set of her first-round match with a right-knee injury. In March, Hantuchová hired
Peter Lundgren, who coached
Roger Federer from 2000 to 2003. She had previously been coached by
Eduardo Nicolás from mid-2013 to the beginning of 2014. Hantuchová lost both her openers at
Indian Wells and
Miami to Americans
Varvara Lepchenko and
Madison Keys, respectively. At the
Charleston Cup where she was the 12th seed, she lost in the quarterfinals to fellow Slovak
Jana Čepelová. Hantuchová then reached her first semifinal of the season at
Marrakech as the top seed. There, she lost to
Romina Oprandi. At the
Madrid Open, she lost to Roberta Vinci in the first round. The following week, she lost in the first round again at
Rome to
Monica Puig. During the grass-court season, Hantuchová played at
Birmingham. She failed to defend her title when she lost to veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in the third round after defeating rising star
Belinda Bencic in her opener. The following week, she defeated Vinci in the first round at
Eastbourne, but then lost to
Lauren Davis. At
Wimbledon, Hantuchová lost to eventual finalist
Eugenie Bouchard in the first round. Hantuchová played for the
San Diego Aviators of
World TeamTennis in
July. She led the Aviators to the league's best regular-season record and was named WTT Female Most Valuable Player. The Aviators lost to the
Springfield Lasers in the Western Conference Championship Match. Hantuchová participated in the
Bank of the West Classic, where she defeated
Paula Ormaechea in round one, but lost to
Garbiñe Muguruza in the second. In doubles, she and
Arantxa Parra Santonja won the first round over
Daria Gavrilova and
Xu Yifan, but lost against
Paula Kania and
Kateřina Siniaková. At the
Canadian Open singles, she was defeated in first round by eventual finalist Caroline Wozniacki. She also lost the first doubles round alongside
Arantxa Parra Santonja. She went on to another first-round singles defeat at the Cincinnati Open at the hands of Ekaterina Makarova. In doubles, she partnered Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová and won against
Lucie Hradecká and
Michaëlla Krajicek, but lost in round two against Errani and Vinci. At the
US Open, she defeated
Romina Oprandi in round one, but lost to Alizé Cornet in the second round. She partnered Francesca Schiavone for women's doubles and lost to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in round one.
2015: 7th WTA Tour title Hantuchová started at the
Auckland Open, where she beat Sara Errani in the first round in straight sets. This marked her first win against a top-20 player since May 2013. In the second round, Hantuchová lost to qualifier
Urszula Radwańska. After Auckland, Hantuchová received a wild card to play at the
Hobart International. She beat qualifier
Richèl Hogenkamp in the first round. In the second round, Hantuchová lost to third seed
Zarina Diyas. At the
Australian Open, Hantuchová beat Zheng Saisai in the first round, before she lost to 24th seed
Garbiñe Muguruza. Hantuchová played her 17th singles final at the
Thailand Open after wins over third seed Zarina Diyas, Zheng Saisai,
Duan Yingying, and Marina Erakovic. She defeated Ajla Tomljanović in the final to win her seventh WTA tournament title. Two days later, at the
Dubai Championships, she beat Mona Barthel in the first round. Hantuchová fell in the second round to top seed and eventual champion
Simona Halep. At the
Monterrey Open, Hantuchová was the seventh seed. She beat Monica Puig in the first round. However, she lost in the second round to qualifier Urszula Radwańska. Hantuchová lost in the first round of
Indian Wells Open to Klára Koukalová. She also lost in the first round of the
Miami Open to Belinda Bencic. Hantuchová won one match during Fed Cup by beating
Susanne Celik of Sweden. During the spring, Hantuchová switched her racquet brand from Prince to
Head. At the
Morocco Open, Hantuchová lost in the first round to Christina McHale. At the
Madrid Open, Hantuchová lost in the first round to
Elina Svitolina. Hantuchová lost again in the first round of the
Internazionali d'Italia to 13th seed Sara Errani. Hantuchová lost in the first round of the
French Open to Bencic. Hantuchová started her grass-court season by playing at the
Nottingham Open, where she lost in the first round to
Magda Linette in a three-setter. The following week, Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals at the
Birmingham Classic with wins over 14th seed
Irina-Camelia Begu, qualifier Marina Erakovic and qualifier
Michelle Larcher de Brito, before she lost to eighth seed and grass-court specialist
Sabine Lisicki. At
Wimbledon, Hantuchová beat compatriot Dominika Cibulková in the first round. In the second round, she lost to British No. 1, Heather Watson. At the
İstanbul Cup, she beat Turkish wildcard
Çağla Büyükakçay. but in the second round, lost to eventual champion
Lesia Tsurenko. At the
Western & Southern Open, she lost in the first round to Kristina Mladenovic. At the
US Open, Hantuchová lost in the first round to
Misaki Doi. At the
Guangzhou International Open, she lost in the first round to fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. At the
Wuhan Open, she was given a wild card into the main draw. In the first round, Hantuchová lost to 12th seed Elina Svitolina. Her final tournament of the year was at the
China Open. She was the 14th seed for qualifying where in the first round, she lost to
Lara Arruabarrena. Hantuchová finished 2015 ranked No. 81. This was her 15th straight top-100 season.
2016: Out of the top 100 Hantuchová started her season at the
Brisbane International. She lost in the first round of qualifying to
Ysaline Bonaventure. Getting through qualifying at the
Sydney International, Hantuchová was supposed to face second seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round, but Radwańska withdrew due to a left leg injury. She got a bye into the second round, but fell to Samantha Stosur. At the
Australian Open, Hantuchová was defeated in the first round by 23rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. At the
Qatar Ladies Open, she lost in the first round of qualifying to
Anastasija Sevastova. Having fallen out of the top 100 for the first time since March 2002, Hantuchová successfully made her way through qualifying at the
French Open, defeating seventh seed
Anna Tatishvili,
Barbora Štefková and
Jennifer Brady. She lost in the first round of the main draw to
Mirjana Lučić-Baroni.
2017: Out of Grand Slam tournaments and retirement For the first time since 2000, Hantuchová had to play the qualifying round to enter the main draw at the
Australian Open. She lost in the first round of qualifying to
Natalia Vikhlyantseva. During the
Fed Cup tie versus Italy, Hantuchová played one rubber and defeated Sara Errani. In the end, Slovakia beat Italy 3–2. Playing a $25k tournament in
Rancho Santa Fe, Hantuchová was defeated in the second round by
Kayla Day. In Acapulco at the
Mexican Open, Hantuchová lost in the second round to fourth seed
Monica Puig. At
Indian Wells, Hantuchová was defeated in the first round of qualifying by
Mandy Minella. Seeded eighth for the ITF tournament in
Santa Margherita di Pula ($25k), Hantuchová lost in the second round to
Fiona Ferro. On 6 July 2017, at Wimbledon, Hantuchová announced her retirement from professional tennis. ==Playing style==