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MELBOURNE, Wednesday (Reuters) Seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova said she had no interest in becoming the new cover girl for tennis after her 7-6 7-6 win over Italian Adriana Serra Zanetti in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Slovakian - already a firm favourite among male fans - was not flattered by comparisons to Anna Kournikova, who plumbed new depths earlier with an embarrassing 6-0 6-1 defeat by fifth-seeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne.

"I think I am a totally different person to her," Hantuchova told reporters. "For me, tennis remains the number one priority.

"As long as people talk about my tennis as much as they do these (other) things, I will be happy." Hantuchova, who won three WTA Tour events last season including her breakthrough title at Indian Wells, said she was more concerned with improving her world ranking of eight than being a tennis mannequin. "I think (looks) are something that people are always going to talk about. But tennis is the most important thing and I think I'm proving it with my results," she said.

Without a doubt, her achievements to date set Hantuchova apart from Russian Kournikova, who has never won a WTA singles title in more than seven years on tour.

"I feel like I am on the right track. I just have to keep working hard and hopefully I will get to the top," said the Monaco-based player.

"It's good to be tested in the first few rounds because then it makes me sharper for the important matches."

Hantuchova reached the last eight at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year and appears to have a relatively trouble-free route to the quarter-finals in Melbourne, where she is scheduled to face second seed Venus Williams.

However, she was taking nothing for granted after defending champion Jennifer Capriati crashed out on day one and world number one Serena Williams was taken to the brink of defeat by little-known Frenchwoman Emilie Loit on Tuesday.

"It seems like quite a few of the top players are having problems in the first few rounds. It just shows how tough the players are at the moment," she said.

"I think it's great for tennis that you can see such good matches from the first round."

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