Jana Novotná

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**Jana Novotná**
Jana Novotná at the 1998 US Open
Country	Image:Flag of the Czech Republic (bordered).svg Czech Republic
Residence	Brno, Czech Republic
Date of birth	October 2 1968
Place of birth	Brno, Czechoslovakia
Height	5'9" (1.75 m)
Weight	139 lbs. (63 kg)
Turned Pro	1987
Retired	1999
Plays	Right-handed
Career Prize Money	$ 11,249,284
Singles
Career record:	571-225
Career titles:	24 (2 ITF)
Highest ranking:	2 (July 7, 1997)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	F (1991)
French Open	SF (1990, 1996)
Wimbledon	W (1998), F (1993, 1997)
U.S. Open	SF (1994, 1997)
Doubles
Career record:	697-153
Career titles:	76 (6 ITF)
Highest ranking:	1 (August 27, 1990)
Infobox last updated on: 2006.

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.

1 Career
2 Wimbledon 1998
3 Other Grand Slam titles
4 Fed Cup
5 Retirement
6 Grand Slam singles finals
- 6.1 Wins (1)
- 6.2 Runner-ups (3)
7 Singles titles (24)
8 Doubles titles (76)
9 External links

[edit] 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.

Olympic medal record
Women’s Tennis
Silver	1988 Seoul	Doubles
Silver	1996 Atlanta	Doubles
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	Singles

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1998	Wimbledon	Image:Flag of France.svg Nathalie Tauziat	6-4, 7-6

[edit] Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	Australian Open	Monica Seles	5-7, 6-3, 6-1
1993	Wimbledon	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	7-6, 1-6, 6-4
1997	Wimbledon	Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Martina Hingis	2-6, 6-3, 6-3

[edit] Singles titles (24)

1988 - Adelaide
1989 - Strasbourg
1990 - Albuquerque
1991 - Sydney, Oklahoma City
1993 - Osaka, Brighton
1994 - Leipzig, Brighton, Essen
1995 - Linz
1996 - Madrid, Zurich, Chicago, Philadelphia
1997 - WTA Tour Championships, Madrid, Leipzig, Moscow
1998 - Wimbledon, Linz, Eastbourne, Prague
1999 - Hannover

[edit] Doubles titles (76)

1987 - Hamburg (w/Kohde-Kilsch), Strasbourg (w/Suire), San Diego (w/Suire)
1988 - Oklahoma City (w/Suire), Rome (w/Suire), Hamburg (w/Scheuer-Larsen), Canadian Open (w/Suková), Mahwah (w/Suková)
1989 - Wimbledon (w/Suková), Miami (w/Sukova), Boca Raton (w/Suková), Brisbane (w/Suková), Barcelona (w/Scheuer-Larsen), European Indoors (w/Sukova)
1990 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Miami (w/Neiland), Osaka (w/Neiland), Paris Indoors (w/A. Strnadova), Rome (w/Sanchez-Vicario), Canadian Open (w/Neiland)
1994 - 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 - Linz - 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 - 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 - US Open (w/Davenport), Season-Ending Championships (w/Davenport), Paris Indoors (w/Hingis), Amelia Island (w/Davenport), Berlin (w/Davenport), Leipzig (w/Hingis)
1998 - French Open (w/Hingis), Wimbledon (w/Hingis), US Open (w/Hingis), Miami (w/Hingis), Eastbourne (w/de Swardt), Canadian Open (w/Hingis)
1999 - Miami (w/Hingis), Hilton Head (w/Likhovtseva), Canadian Open (w/Pierce)