For Daniela Hantuchova a long, road back to the top

Ayear, ago few would have expected Daniela Hantuchova to be among the eight woman players who have qualified for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships, which began Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Slovak finished 2006 at No. 18 in the world and, although her form had been improving, the heady teenage years when, briefly, she seemed capable of reaching the pinnacle of the game, appeared to be gone forever.

Having won a big title in Indian Wells, California, she reached No. 8 in 2002, but it was not long afterward that the problems set in. She started to lose weight when she didn't have any to lose. She became fretful and anxious and, despite all the good advice she received from her British coach, Nigel Sears, and the loving attention of her parents - her father is a computer scientist and her mother a toxicologist - real concern developed over her health.

It was a long road back and, incredibly, she did not win another title of any kind until she triumphed again at Indian Wells this year.

Then she won Birmingham, England, on grass just before Wimbledon and clinched a spot in the elite field in Madrid with a last-gasp effort by winning in Linz, Austria, two weeks ago.

By then she had started working at the Sánchez-Casal camp in Barcelona and was being coached by the former tour player Angel Giminez, who was himself coached by one of the game's greatest champions, Lew Hoad.

Hantuchova attributes her change in fortune to the technical advice she has received from Giminez as well as a new outlook on life.

"I have realized it is not necessary to be perfect," she says. "I was putting much too much pressure on myself. Now I am more relaxed and calm. I understand things better."

When the round-robin play gets under way on Tuesday night, the Slovak, who is in the Red Group, will find herself up against Maria Sharapova of Russia, who will understand better than most what it is like to face the pressures of fame and fashion.

Obviously Hantuchova is full of confidence and would bet on her chances no matter what, but the Russian is unlikely to be in top form. The shoulder problem that has been troubling Sharapova for months almost prevented her playing in Madrid and could ruin any hopes she might have of salvaging a disappointing year. The pain comes and goes, even within a match, which plays on the mind as much as the body.

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