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Jana Novotná

Country (sports)	Czech Republic
Residence	Brno, Czech Republic
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1987
Retired	1999
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	$ 11,249,284
Singles
Career record	571–225
Career titles	24 (2 ITF)
Highest ranking	2 (July 7, 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1991)
French Open	SF (1990, 1996)
Wimbledon	W (1998)
US Open	SF (1994, 1997)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1997)
Doubles
Career record	697–153
Career titles	76 (6 ITF)
Highest ranking	1 (August 27, 1990)
Last updated on: 2006.

Jana Novotna (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. Novotna also won 12 Grand Slam women's doubles titles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

Career

Novotna 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, Novotna began to have success in singles once four-time Grand Slam singles champion Hana Mandlikova became her coach. Novotna was one of the top serve and volleyers of her time, a rarity in women's tennis.

Novotna reached her first Grand Slam singles final in 1991 at the Australian Open, where she lost to Monica Seles 5–7, 6–3, 6–1.

Two years later, Novotna reached her first singles final at Wimbledon, where she faced Steffi Graf. After losing a tight first set, Novotna took a 6–7, 6–1, 4–1, 40-15 lead. With 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 and the title. During the prize presentation ceremony, a distraught Novotna burst into tears and cried on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder. The Duchess comforted her by saying that she was sure Novotna would win the title one day. But at the time, many doubted that this would happen given how dramatically she had choked against Graf.

Olympic medal record
Representing  Czechoslovakia
Women’s Tennis
	1988 Seoul	Doubles
Representing  Czech Republic
Women’s Tennis
	1996 Atlanta	Doubles
	1996 Atlanta	Singles

It took four years for Novotna to reach another Wimbledon final. In 1997, she faced Martina Hingis. Novotna won the first set. But she then succumbed to the Swiss player's accurate passing shots and lost 2–6, 6–3, 6–3. However, Novotna won the 1997 WTA Tour Championships and finished the year ranked a career-high World No. 2 in singles.

Novotna's moment of Wimbledon glory finally arrived in 1998. After defeating a young Venus Williams in a close quarterfinal, Novotna avenged the previous year's loss by ousting Hingis in a semifinal and veteran Nathalie Tauziat in the final 6–4, 7–6.

She won 12 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (four at Wimbledon, three at the French Open, three at the U.S. Open, and two at the Australian Open) and 4 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (two at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the U.S. Open). She was 11 times the year end top ranked doubles player.

Novotna was a member of the Czechoslovakian team that won the Fed Cup in 1988. At the Olympic Games, Novotna was a women's doubles silver medalist in 1988 and 1996 and a singles bronze medalist in 1996.

Novotna retired from the professional tour in 1999. During her 14-year career, she won 100 titles (24 in singles and 76 in doubles). She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

Grand Slam singles finals

Win (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

Grand Slam women's doubles finals

Wins (12)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1989	Wimbledon	Helena Sukova	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 6–2
1990	Australian Open	Helena Sukova	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernandez	7–6, 7–6
1990	French Open	Helena Sukova	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 7–5
1990	Wimbledon (2)	Helena Sukova	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	6–3, 6–4
1991	French Open (2)	Gigi Fernandez	Larisa Neiland Natalia Zvereva	6–4, 6–0
1994	U.S. Open	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	Katerina Maleeva Robin White	6–3, 6–3
1995	Australian Open (2)	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	Gigi Fernandez Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–7, 6–4
1995	Wimbledon (3)	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	Gigi Fernandez Natalia Zvereva	5–7, 7–5, 6–4
1997	U.S. Open (2)	Lindsay Davenport	Gigi Fernandez Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–4
1998	French Open (3)	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Natalia Zvereva	6–1, 7–6
1998	Wimbledon (4)	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 3–6, 8–6
1998	U.S. Open (3)	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–3

Runner-ups (11)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1990	U.S. Open	Helena Sukova	Gigi Fernandez Martina Navratilova	6–2, 6–4
1991	Australian Open	Gigi Fernandez	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernandez	7–6, 6–1
1991	Wimbledon	Gigi Fernandez	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
1991	U.S. Open (3)	Larisa Neiland	Pam Shriver Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 4–6, 7–6
1992	Wimbledon (2)	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–1
1992	U.S. Open (3)	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	7–6, 6–1
1993	French Open	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 7–5
1993	Wimbledon (3)	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–7, 6–4
1994	French Open (2)	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–7, 6–4, 7–5
1994	Wimbledon (4)	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–1
1996	U.S. Open (4)	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	1–6, 6–1, 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

NH = tournament not held.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Titles

Singles

No.	Date	Tournament Name	Location	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	January 3, 1986	ITF	Chicago, U.S.	Hard (I)	Kathy Hofer	6–4, 7–5
2.	April 18, 1986	ITF	Monviso, Italy	Clay	Federica Bonsignori	7–6, 6–2
3.	December 4, 1988	Danone Southern Cross Classic	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Jana Pospisilova	7–5, 6–4
4.	May 28, 1989	Internationaux de Strasbourg	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Patricia Tarabini	6–1, 6–2
5.	August 12, 1990	Virginia Slims of Albuquerque	Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.	Hard	Laura Arraya	6–4, 6–4
6.	January 13, 1991	Holden New South Wales Open	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	6–4, 6–2
7.	February 24, 1991	Virginia Slims of Oklahoma	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.	Hard (I)	Anne Smith	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
8.	February 14, 1993	World Ladies in Osaka	Osaka, Japan	Carpet (I)	Kimiko Date	6–3, 6–2
9.	October 24, 1993	Autoglass Classic (1)	Brighton, United Kingdom	Carpet (I)	Anke Huber	6–2, 6–4
10.	October 2, 1994	International Grand Prix (1)	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (I)	Mary Pierce	7–5, 6–1
11.	October 23, 1994	Brighton International (2)	Brighton, United Kingdom	Carpet (I)	Helena Sukova	6–7(4), 6–3, 6–4
12.	October 30, 1994	Nokia Grand Prix	Essen, Germany	Carpet (I)	Iva Majoli	6–2, 6–4
13.	February 26, 1995	EA-Generali Open (1)	Linz, Austria	Carpet (I)	Barbara Rittner	6–7(6), 6–3, 6–4
14.	May 26, 1996	Open Paginas Amarillas (1)	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Magdalena Maleeva	4–6,6–4, 6–3
15.	October 20, 1996	European Indoors	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (I)	Martina Hingis	6–2, 6–2
16.	November 3, 1996	Ameritech Cup	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (I)	Jennifer Capriati	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
17.	November 17, 1996	Advanta Championships	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	6–4, retired
18.	May 25, 1997	Open Paginas Amarillas (2)	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Monica Seles	7–5, 6–1
19.	September 28, 1997	Sparkassen Cup International Grand Prix (2)	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (I)	Amanda Coetzer	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
20.	November 2, 1997	Kremlin Cup	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (I)	Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–4
21.	November 23, 1997	Chase Championships	New York City	Carpet (I)	Mary Pierce	7–6(4), 6–2, 6–3
22.	March 1, 1998	EA-Generali Austrian Open (2)	Linz, Austria	Hard (I)	Dominique Van Roost	6–1, 7–6(2)
23.	June 21, 1998	Direct Line Insurance Championships	Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	6–1, 7–5
24.	July 5, 1998	Wimbledon	London	Grass	Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 7–6(2)
25.	July 12, 1998	Skoda Czech Open	Prague	Clay	Sandrine Testud	6–3, 6–0
26.	February 21, 1999	Faber Grand Prix	Hannover, Germany	Carpet (I)	Venus Williams	6–4, 6–4

Doubles (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/Sukova), Mahwah (w/Sukova)
• 1989 - Wimbledon (w/Sukova), Miami (w/Sukova), Boca Raton (w/Sukova), Brisbane (w/Sukova), Barcelona (w/Scheuer-Larsen), European Indoors (w/Sukova)
• 1990 - Australian Open (w/Sukova), French Open (w/Sukova), Wimbledon (w/Sukova), Miami (w/Sukova), Brisbane (w/Sukova), Sydney (w/Sukova), Indian Wells (w/Sukova), Boca Raton (w/Sukova), 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. Strnadova),Filderstadt (w/Navratilova), 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)

External links

• Jana Novotna at the Women's Tennis Association
• International Tennis Hall of Fame biography
• Fed Cup record

• 1968 births
• Living people
• Czech tennis players
• Czechoslovak tennis players
• Tennis Hall of Fame members
• Australian Open champions
• French Open champions
• Wimbledon champions
• US Open champions
• Olympic tennis players of Czechoslovakia
• Olympic tennis players of the Czech Republic
• Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia
• Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic
• Olympic silver medalists for the Czech Republic
• Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• People from Brno