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Jana Novotn (b. October 2 1968 in Brno, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. She is best remembered for winning the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998, and for crying on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after losing the Wimbledon singles final in 1993. Novotn was also an outstanding doubles player who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles.
Novotn turned professional in 1986. In the early years of her career she was known primarily for her success as a doubles player. In the early-1990s, she took on four-time former Grand Slam singles champion Hana Mandlkov as her coach, and began to distinguish herself as a singles player.
Novotn reached her first Grand Slam singles final in 1991 at the Australian Open, where she lost in three sets to Monica Seles 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.
Two years later, Novotn reached her first singles final at Wimbledon where she faced Steffi Graf. After losing a tight first set, Novotn put in an almost flawless performance to take a 6-7, 6-1, 4-1, 40-15 lead. However, with a convincing victory seemingly in her grasp, she lost her nerve and began missing easy shots, sometimes hitting the ball out by wide margins (including an infamous overhead smash that hit the back tarp). Graf took the next five games in sucession and the title. During the prize-presentation ceremony, a distraught Novotn burst into tears and cried on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder. The Duchess comforted her by saying that she was sure Novotn would win the title one day. But at the time, many doubted that this was likely given how dramatically she had choked against Graf.
It took four years for Novotn to reach another Wimbledon final. In 1997 she faced Martina Hingis. Novotn dominated the first set, which she won 6-2. But she then succumbed to the Swiss teen's accurate passing shots and lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. However Novotn went on to win the 1997 WTA Tour Championships, and finished the year ranked a career-high World No. 2 in singles.
Novotn's moment of Wimbledon glory finally arrived in 1998. After routing a young Venus Williams in the quarter-final, she avenged the previous year's loss by ousting Hingis in the semi-finals, and then angled past another veteran, Nathalie Tauziat, in the final 6-4, 7-6.
Novotn also won 12 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (4 Wimbledon, 3 French Open, 3 US Open, and 2 Australian Open), and 4 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (2 Australian Open, 1 Wimbledon, and 1 US Open). She was ranked the World No. 1 doubles player 11 times.
Novotn was a member of the Czechoslovakian team which won the Fed Cup in 1988. At the Olympic Games, Novotn was a women's doubles Silver medalist in 1988 and 1996, and a singles Bronze medalist in 1996.
Novotn retired from the professional tour in 1999. During her 12-year career, she won 24 singles titles and 76 doubles titles (a total of exactly 100 titles). Despite winning titles on all surfaces, Novotn will forever be identified with Wimbledon – the site of both her greatest failure and biggest triumph.
Novotn was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
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Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (1)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1998 Wimbledon Nathalie Tauziat 6-4, 7-6
Runner-ups (3)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1991 Australian Open Monica Seles 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 1993 Wimbledon Steffi Graf 7-6, 1-6, 6-4 1997 Wimbledon Martina Hingis 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
External links
- Official WTA profile (http://www.wtatour.com/players/playerprofiles/PlayerBio.asp?ID=&EntityID=1&CustomerID=0&OrderID=0&ReturnURL=/&PlayerID=140029)
- International Tennis Hall of Fame biography (http://www.tennisfame.com/enshrinees/novotna.html)bg:Яна Новотна