Jana Novotná

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Image:Jana Novotna.jpg Jana Novotná (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. Novotná was also an outstanding doubles player who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles.

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Career

Novotná 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 Mandlíková as her coach, and began to distinguish herself as a singles player.

Novotná 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. Template:MedalTop Template:MedalSport Template:MedalSilver Template:MedalSilver Template:MedalBronze Template:MedalBottom Two years later, Novotná reached her first singles final at Wimbledon where she faced Steffi Graf. After losing a tight first set, Novotná 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 succession and the title. During the prize-presentation ceremony, a distraught Novotná burst into tears and cried on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder. The Duchess comforted her by saying that she was sure Novotná 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 Novotná to reach another Wimbledon final. In 1997 she faced Martina Hingis. Novotná 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 Novotná went on to win the 1997 WTA Tour Championships, and finished the year ranked a career-high World No. 2 in singles.

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Wimbledon 1998

Novotná'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.

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Other Grand Slam titles

Novotná 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.

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Fed Cup

Novotná was a member of the Czechoslovakian team which won the Fed Cup in 1988. At the Olympic Games, Novotná was a women's doubles Silver medalist in 1988 and 1996, and a singles Bronze medalist in 1996.

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Retirement

Novotná 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).

Novotná was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

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Grand Slam singles finals

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Wins (1)

Year     Championship            Opponent in Final          Score in Final
1998     Wimbledon               Nathalie Tauziat           6-4, 7-6
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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


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Singles titles (24) & Doubles titles (76)

  • 1987
    • [Doubles] : Hamburg (w/Kohde-Kilsch), Strasbourg (w/Suire), San Diego (w/Suire)
  • 1988
    • [Singles] : Adelaide
    • [Doubles] : Oklahoma City (w/Suire), Rome (w/Suire), Hamburg (w/Scheuer-Larsen), Canadian Open (w/Suková), Mahwah (w/Suková)
  • 1989
    • [Singles] : Strasbourg
    • [Doubles] : Wimbledon (w/Suková), Miami (w/Sukova), Boca Raton (w/Suková), Brisbane (w/Suková), Barcelona (w/Scheuer-Larsen), European Indoors (w/Sukova)
  • 1990
    • [Singles] : Albuquerque
    • [Doubles] : Australian Open (w/Suková), French Open (w/Suková), Wimbledon (w/Suková), Miami (w/Suková), Brisbane (w/Suková), Sydney (w/Suková), Indian Wells (w/Suková), Boca Raton (w/Suková), Los Angeles (w/G. Fernandez)
  • 1991
    • [Singles] : Sydney, Oklahoma City
    • [Doubles] : French Open (w/G. Fernandez), Brisbane (w/G. Fernandez), Chicago (w/G. Fernandez), Hamburg (w/Neiland), Washington, DC (w/Neiland), European Indoors (w/A. Strnadová),Filderstadt (w/Navrátilová), Philadelphia (w/Neiland)
  • 1992
    • [Doubles] : Brisbane (w/Neiland), Light ‘n Lively (w/Neiland), Berlin (w/Neiland), Eastbourne (w/Neiland), San Diego (w/Neiland), Leipzig (w/Neiland), Brighton (w/Neiland)
  • 1993
    • [Singles] : Osaka, Brighton
    • [Doubles] : Miami (w/Neiland), Osaka (w/Neiland), Paris Indoors (w/A. Strnadova), Rome (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Canadian Open (w/Neiland)
  • 1994
    • [Singles] : Leipzig, Brighton, Essen
    • [Doubles] : US Open (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Delray Beach (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Light ’n Lively Doubles (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Hamburg (w/Sanchez-Vicario), San Diego (w/Sanchez-Vicario)
  • 1995
    • [Singles] : Linz
    • [Doubles] : Australian Open (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Wimbledon (w/Sanchez-Vicario), WTA Tour Championships (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Sydney (w/Davenport), Miami (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Delray Beach (w/MJ Fernandez), Eastbourne (w/Sanchez-Vicario)
  • 1996
    • [Singles] : Madrid, Zurich, Chicago, Philadelphia
    • [Doubles] : Paris Indoors (w/Boogert), Miami (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Hilton Head (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Madrid (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Eastbourne (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Filderstadt (w/Arendt)
  • 1997
    • [Singles] : WTA Tour Championships, Madrid, Leipzig, Moscow
    • [Doubles] : US Open (w/Davenport), Season-Ending Championships (w/Davenport), Paris Indoors (w/Hingis), Amelia Island (w/Davenport), Berlin (w/Davenport), Leipzig (w/Hingis)
  • 1998
    • [Singles] : Wimbledon, Linz, Eastbourne, Prague;
    • [Doubles] : French Open (w/Hingis), Wimbledon (w/Hingis), US Open (w/Hingis), Miami (w/Hingis), Eastbourne (w/de Swardt), Canadian Open (w/Hingis)
  • 1999
    • [Singles] : Hannover
    • [Doubles] : Miami (w/Hingis), Hilton Head (w/Likhovtseva), Canadian Open (w/Pierce)
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External links

Template:Wimbledon women's singles championsbg:Яна Новотна de:Jana Novotná fi:Jana Novotná fr:Jana Novotná ja:ヤナ・ノボトナ nl:Jana Novotná pl:Jana Novotná sv:Jana Novotná

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