From piano to racket, Hantuchova handles pressure

DENPASAR, Indonesia, Sep 14 (Reuters) Spending her formative years as a classical pianist became the ideal preparation for handling the pressurised world of the women's tennis tour, said Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova.

The world number 19, seeded fifth for the Bali International this week, spent her early days at the keyboard and her deft fingerwork before large audiences proved a formidable learning curve ahead of her experiences on the tennis court.

''I did some pretty big concerts, and I can tell you I've never, ever been so nervous in my life,'' Hantuchova told Reuters.

''When I was about 13, 14, a couple of hundred at least would be watching, maybe a thousand. It was scary stuff, but it prepared me well for the tennis circuit so it was good,'' said Hantuchova, who reached the heights of world number five in January 2003.

''I really enjoyed playing. It was very difficult time-wise because I had my school in the morning, tennis practise, then piano, then tennis again and then study in the evening. So I was finishing my day at 11, 11.30.

''Every day was like that from eight o'clock in the morning, and I loved it because there wasn't any one second I had some free time.'' A winner in Indian Wells in 2002, Hantuchova also overlooked a promising academic career in order to pursue her first love.

GOOD OFFERS ''It was a really tough one because after finishing high school I thought for sure I was going to continue, and I had some really good offers and studying always felt to me like it was part of my life,'' she said.

''Especially for my parents it had been very important too, because with tennis you never know so you always have to have another option if something happens to you.

''So it was kind of a tough one, but I knew if I wanted to do this properly there wouldn't be enough time for me to do both.'' And at what did she excel in her studies? ''Mathematics and physics. The high school I went to is the best in Slovakia and it mainly goes in that direction, computers. My father and brother went to the same school. My parents and my brother and my grandmother are the brainy ones. I don't feel I've done anything compared to them.'' Father Igor is a computer scientist while her mother Marianna is a toxicologist. Older brother Igor is an architect.

But the 23-year-old has a slightly less academic pursuit in mind once her tennis career is at an end.

''I am very interested in fashion,'' she admits. '' ''I like anything that's glamorous, with a lot of class. Usually I prefer things that are different to things that people are used to seeing.

''I just love that part of my life and it's something that I definitely want to get involved with more after I finish with my tennis.'' REUTERS PDS PM0949