Jana Novotna
Likeable Czech tennis player who finally won Wimbledon in straight sets at the third attempt
JANA Novotna, the Czech tennis star, who died of cancer last month, aged 49, won the hearts of the Wimbledon crowds in her 1993 final against Steffi Graf, when she snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and then shed tears on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent.
The tall, blonde Czech was easy-going and likeable — and, with her serve and volley aggression, her energy in running down every ball, and her mastery of the backhand smash, one of the most watchable players on the circuit.
But she suffered from bouts of nerves, and it appeared for a time that she was destined to be remembered as one of the finest women’s players, particularly on grass, never to win a Grand Slam title.
It took her four years to reach another Wimbledon final, in 1997, when, despite being cheered on by a partisan crowd, she lost in three sets to the 16-year-old Martina Hingis.
In 1993 she had cried because Wimbledon was hers to win. This time, she had given of her best, but had been outplayed so, instead of tears, she masked her disappointment with laughter as she snatched the silver trophy from her opponent and made as if to run off with it.
In 1997 Jana Novotna had been told by her royal comforter: “Don’t worry. I am sure it will be third time lucky.” So it proved in 1998 when, after beating Venus Williams in a close-fought quarter final, and exacting her revenge on Martina Hingis in the semi-final, the 29-year-old Czech player defeated France’s 30-year-old Nathalie Tauziat in the final in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6, in a match in which the players were the oldest in a Wimbledon final since 1977, when 31-year-old Virginia Wade beat 32-year-old Betty Stove.
“What’s all the fuss about?” said the Duchess as Jana received her trophy.
“I told you last year you would come back and win.” It was her first, and last, Grand Slam singles title in 45 attempts.
Jana Novotna was born on October 2, 1968 at Brno, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic). She began as a gymnast, until the age of eight when her coach told her she would be too tall to be successful. It was her mother, Liba, a schoolteacher, who suggested she concentrate on tennis, a game she played for fun. What began as a hobby soon became an obsession. She turned professional in 1987.
At first Jana Novotna was known for her success on the doubles court. She won 12 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles — four at Wimbledon and three at the French Open, three at the US Open and two at the Australian Open — and four mixed doubles titles, reaching the No 1 ranking in the doubles.
In the early 1990s, after Hana Mandlikova became her coach, she began to have success in singles too, and she went on to become the 15th woman in the Open era to win more than 500 career singles matches. She won 24 titles, peaking in the rankings at No 2 in 1997, but her 1998 Wimbledon triumph was her only Grand Slam victory.
In 1991, on the run to her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open (she lost in three sets to Monica Seles), she had beaten the No 1 seed Steffi Graf and, two years later, in her first Wimbledon final, it seemed she was on the way to repeating that achievement.
In an emotionally charged match, the second-longest final, at 2hr 14min, since records were first compiled, Jana Novotna had manoeuvred herself into a seemingly unassailable position. Leading 4-1 in the third set and serving at 40:30, she stood on the point of going 5-1 ahead. Four double faults and several wild errors later, her advantage had gone. She went down to defeat 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4. It was little comfort that she had won more points (107 to 103) and more games (16 to 14) than her opponent.
“Steffi Graf didn’t exactly grab her fifth Wimbledon championship,” observed one commentator. “Jana Novotna handed her the silver platter as a gift with one of the worst chokes in Grand Slam history.”
In fact, it was not Jana Novotna’s most spectacular disaster; a couple of years later, she blew a lead of 5-0, 40:0 over Chanda Rubin in the final set in the third round of the French Open. But it was the most public, and it turned her into a Wimbledon favourite.
Her loss in 1997 to Martina Hingis was a very different affair. She won the opening set 6-2, but Martina Hingis got over a timid start to launch a blistering all-court attack, and an increasingly weary Jana Novotna found herself outplayed. All the same, she fought like a tigress to deny her opponent victory.
She retired from the professional tour in 1999 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
Novotana was unmarried.