Former Wimbledon champ Jana Novotna dies aged 49
PRAGUE: Former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna has died at the age of 49 after suffering from cancer, the
WTA said yesterday.
Novotna, who won the Wimbledon title in 1998 when she defeated France’s Nathalie Tauziat in the final, died on Sunday in her native Czech Republic surrounded by her family, a WTA statement said.
She played in two other Wimbledon singles finals, losing to Steffi Graf in 1993 and t o Martina Hingis in 1997.
Novotna also won four Wimbledon doubles titles with compatriot Helena Sukova in 1989 and 1990, with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1995 and with Hingis in 1998.
Wearing her distinctive headband, she won doubles titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
Born on Oct 2, 1968, Novotna won a total of 24 singles tournaments and 76 doubles events in her career that spanned from 1987 to 1999. She also won the Fed Cup with the former Czechoslovakia in 1988.
SEGURA PASSES AWAY
Pancho Segura, who rose from poverty to win six US Pro singles and doubles championships and was one of the world’s top amateur players in the 1940s and professionals in the 1950s, has died. He was 96.
Segura, who was born in Ecuador, died on Saturday from complications of Parkinson’s disease at his home at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, his son, Spencer Segura of Connecticut, said on Sunday.
Segura went from amateur to barnstorming pro as a player, then became a coach, including of Jimmy Connors, an eight-time major singles champion.
“Sad day — lost my friend-coach-and mentor,” Connors posted on Twitter on Sunday.