Jana Novotná

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, one-handed backhand
Prize money	$ 11,249,284
Int. Tennis HoF	2005 (member page)
Singles
Career record	571–225
Career titles	24 (2 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 2 (7 July 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1991)
French Open	SF (1990, 1996)
Wimbledon	W (1998)
US Open	SF (1994, 1998)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1997)
Doubles
Career record	697–153
Career titles	76 (6 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (27 August 1990)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1990, 1995)
French Open	W (1990, 1991, 1998)
Wimbledon	W (1989, 1990, 1995, 1998)
US Open	W (1994, 1997, 1998)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1995, 1997)
Mixed doubles
Career record	4-1
Career titles	4
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	W (1988, 1989)
Wimbledon	W (1989)
US Open	W (1988)
Last updated on: 19 October 2009.

Jana Novotná (Jana Novotna) (born 2 October 1968 in Brno, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998 and cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after losing the 1993 Wimbledon singles final. Novotná also won 12 Grand Slam women's doubles titles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

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, Novotná began to have success in singles once four-time Grand Slam singles champion Hana Mandlikova became her coach.

Novotná 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, Novotná reached her first singles final at Wimbledon, where she faced Steffi Graf. After losing a tight first set, Novotná 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 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 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 Novotná to reach another Wimbledon final. In 1997, she faced Martina Hingis. Novotná 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, Novotná won the 1997 WTA Tour Championships and finished the year ranked a career-high World No. 2 in singles.

Novotná's moment of Wimbledon glory finally arrived in 1998. After defeating a young Venus Williams in a close quarterfinal, Novotná 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 US 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 US Open). She was 11 times the year end top ranked doubles player.

Novotná was a member of the Czechoslovakian team that 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.

Novotná 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.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 4 finals (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1991	Australian Open	Hard	Monica Seles	5–7, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	1993	Wimbledon	Grass	Steffi Graf	7–6(6), 1–6, 6–4
Runner-up	1997	Wimbledon	Grass	Martina Hingis	2–6, 6–3, 6–3
Winner	1998	Wimbledon	Grass	Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 7–6(2)

Doubles: 23 finals (12 titles, 11 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1989	Wimbledon	Grass	Helena Suková	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 6–2
Winner	1990	Australian Open	Hard	Helena Suková	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernandez	7–6(5), 7–6(6)
Winner	1990	French Open	Clay	Helena Suková	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 7–5
Winner	1990	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Helena Suková	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1990	US Open	Hard	Helena Suková	Gigi Fernández Martina Navratilova	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	1991	Australian Open	Hard	Gigi Fernández	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernandez	7–6(4), 6–1
Winner	1991	French Open (2)	Clay	Gigi Fernández	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–0
Runner-up	1991	Wimbledon	Grass	Gigi Fernández	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Runner-up	1991	US Open	Hard	Larisa Neiland	Pam Shriver Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 4–6, 7–6(5)
Runner-up	1992	Wimbledon	Grass	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	1992	US Open	Hard	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	7–6(4), 6–1
Runner-up	1993	French Open	Clay	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 7–5
Runner-up	1993	Wimbledon	Grass	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–7(9), 6–4
Runner-up	1994	Wimbledon	Grass	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–1
Winner	1994	US Open	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Katerina Maleeva Robin White	6–3, 6–3
Winner	1995	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 6–7(3), 6–4
Runner-up	1995	French Open	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–7(6), 6–4, 7–5
Winner	1995	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	5–7, 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	1996	US Open	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Winner	1997	US Open (2)	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 6–4
Winner	1998	French Open (3)	Clay	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 7–6(4)
Winner	1998	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 3–6, 8–6
Winner	1998	US Open (3)	Hard	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 6–3

Mixed Doubles: 5 finals (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1988	Australian Open	Hard	Jim Pugh	Martina Navratilova Tim Gullikson	5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Winner	1988	US Open	Hard	Jim Pugh	Elizabeth Smylie Patrick McEnroe	7–5, 6–3
Winner	1989	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Jim Pugh	Zina Garrison Sherwood Stewart	6–3, 6–4
Winner	1989	Wimbledon	Grass	Jim Pugh	Jenny Byrne Mark Kratzmann	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	1994	US Open	Hard	Todd Woodbridge	Elna Reinach Patrick Galbraith	6–2, 6–4

Year-End Championships finals

Singles: 1 final (1 title, 0 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1997	New York City	Carpet (I)	Mary Pierce	7–6(4), 6–2, 6–3

Doubles: 7 finals (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1991	New York City	Carpet (I)	Gigi Fernández	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	1992	New York City	Carpet (I)	Larisa Neiland	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	7–6(4), 6–1
Runner-up	1993	New York City	Carpet (I)	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 7–5
Runner-up	1994	New York City	Carpet (I)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 6–7(4), 6–3
Winner	1995	New York City	Carpet (I)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	1996	New York City	Carpet (I)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernandez	6–3, 6–2
Winner	1997	New York City (2)	Carpet (I)	Lindsay Davenport	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	6–7(5), 6–3, 6–2

Titles (100)

Singles (24)

Legend Grand Slam (1) WTA Championships (1) Tier I (2) Tier II (11) Tier III (5) Tier IV (2) Tier V (2)

Titles by Surface Hard (5) Clay (4) Grass (2) Carpet (13)

No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	4 December 1988	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Jana Pospíšilová	7–5, 6–4
2.	28 May 1989	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Patricia Tarabini	6–1, 6–2
3.	12 August 1990	Albuquerque, USA	Hard	Laura Gildemeister	6–4, 6–4
4.	13 January 1991	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 6–2
5.	24 February 1991	Oklahoma City, USA	Hard (I)	Anne Smith	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
6.	14 February 1993	Osaka, Japan (World Ladies)	Carpet (I)	Kimiko Date	6–3, 6–2
7.	24 October 1993	Brighton, UK	Carpet (I)	Anke Huber	6–2, 6–4
8.	2 October 1994	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (I)	Mary Pierce	7–5, 6–1
9.	23 October 1994	Brighton, UK	Carpet (I)	Helena Suková	6–7(4), 6–3, 6–4
10.	30 October 1994	Essen, Germany	Carpet (I)	Iva Majoli	6–2, 6–4
11.	26 February 1995	Linz, Austria	Carpet (I)	Barbara Rittner	6–7(6), 6–3, 6–4
12.	26 May 1996	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Magdalena Maleeva	4–6,6–4, 6–3
13.	20 October 1996	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (I)	Martina Hingis	6–2, 6–2
14.	3 November 1996	Chicago, USA	Carpet (I)	Jennifer Capriati	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
15.	17 November 1996	Philadelphia, USA	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	6–4, retired
16.	25 May 1997	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Monica Seles	7–5, 6–1
17.	28 September 1997	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (I)	Amanda Coetzer	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
18.	2 November 1997	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (I)	Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–4
19.	23 November 1997	Chase Championships, New York City, USA	Carpet (I)	Mary Pierce	7–6(4), 6–2, 6–3
20.	1 March 1998	Linz, Austria	Hard (I)	Dominique Van Roost	6–1, 7–6(2)
21.	21 June 1998	Eastbourne, UK	Grass	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–1, 7–5
22.	5 July 1998	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 7–6(2)
23.	12 July 1998	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Sandrine Testud	6–3, 6–0
24.	21 February 1999	Hanover, Germany	Carpet (I)	Venus Williams	6–4, 6–4

Doubles (76)

Grand slam events in boldface.

• 1987: Strasbourg (with Catherine Suire)
• 1987: San Diego (with Catherine Suire)
• 1987: Hamburg (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
• 1988: Oklahoma City (with Catherine Suire)
• 1988: Rome (with Catherine Suire)
• 1988: Hamburg (with Tine Scheuer-Larsen)
• 1988: Montreal (with Helena Suková)
• 1988: Mahwah (with Helena Suková)
• 1989: Brisbane (with Helena Suková)
• 1989: Boca Raton (with Helena Suková)
• 1989: Key Biscayne (with Helena Suková)
• 1989: Barcelona (with Tine Scheuer-Larsen)
• 1989: Wimbledon (with Helena Suková)
• 1989: Zurich (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Brisbane (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Sydney (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Australian Open (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Indian Wells (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Boca Raton (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Key Biscayne (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: French Open (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Wimbledon (with Helena Suková)
• 1990: Manhattan Beach (with Gigi Fernández)
• 1991: Brisbane (with Gigi Fernández)
• 1991: Chicago (with Gigi Fernández)
• 1991: Hamburg (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1991: French Open (with Gigi Fernández)
• 1991: Washington (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1991: Zurich (with Andrea Strnadová)
• 1991: Filderstadt (with Martina Navratilova)
• 1991: Philadelphia (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1992: Brisbane (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1992: Wesley Chapel (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1992: Berlin (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1992: Eastbourne (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1992: San Diego (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1992: Leipzig (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1992: Brighton (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)

• 1993: Osaka (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1993: Paris (with Andrea Strnadová)
• 1993: Key Biscayne (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1993: Rome (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1993: Toronto (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1994: Delray Beach (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1994: Wesley Chapel (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1994: Hamburg (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1994: San Diego (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1994: US Open (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1995: Sydney (with Lindsay Davenport)
• 1995: Australian Open (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1995: Delray Beach (with Mary Joe Fernandez)
• 1995: Key Biscayne (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1995: Eastbourne (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1995: Wimbledon (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1995: WTA Tour Championships (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1996: Paris (with Kristie Boogert)
• 1996: Key Biscayne (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1996: Hilton Head (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1996: Madrid (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1996: Eastbourne (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1996: Filderstadt (with Nicole Arendt)
• 1997: Paris (with Martina Hingis)
• 1997: Amelia Island (with Lindsay Davenport)
• 1997: Berlin (with Lindsay Davenport)
• 1997: US Open (with Lindsay Davenport)
• 1997: Leipzig (with Martina Hingis)
• 1997: Chase Championships (with Lindsay Davenport)
• 1998: Key Biscayne (with Martina Hingis)
• 1998: French Open (with Martina Hingis)
• 1998: Eastbourne (with Mariaan de Swardt)
• 1998: Wimbledon (with Martina Hingis)
• 1998: Montreal (with Martina Hingis)
• 1998: US Open (with Martina Hingis)
• 1999: Key Biscayne (with Martina Hingis)
• 1999: Hilton Head (with Elena Likhovtseva )
• 1999: Toronto (with Mary Pierce)

Singles runner-ups (17)

Grand slam events in boldface.

• 1988: Brisbane (lost to Pam Shriver)
• 1989: Hamburg (lost to Steffi Graf)
• 1989: Zurich (lost to Steffi Graf)
• 1991: Australian Open (lost to Monica Seles)
• 1991: Leipzig (lost to Steffi Graf)
• 1992: Chicago (lost to Martina Navratilova)
• 1992: Leipzig (lost to Steffi Graf)
• 1992: Brighton (lost to Steffi Graf)
• 1993: Wimbledon (lost to Steffi Graf)

• 1993: Leipzig (lost to Steffi Graf)
• 1996: Essen (lost to Iva Majoli)
• 1997: Hanover (lost to Iva Majoli)
• 1997: Eastbourne (lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
• 1997: Wimbledon (lost to Martina Hingis)
• 1998: Hanover (lost to Patty Schnyder)
• 1998: Hamburg (lost to Martina Hingis)
• 1998: New Haven (lost to Steffi Graf)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	Career SR
Australian Open	NH	A	1R	3R	3R	F	4R	2R	QF	4R	A	A	A	3R	0 / 9
French Open	1R	3R	1R	QF	SF	QF	4R	QF	1R	3R	SF	3R	QF	4R	0 / 14
Wimbledon	1R	4R	2R	4R	QF	2R	3R	F	QF	SF	QF	F	W	QF	1 / 14
US Open	A	4R	1R	2R	QF	4R	1R	4R	SF	QF	QF	QF	SF	3R	0 / 13
SR	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	1 / 3	0 / 4	1 / 50

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.

External links

• Jana Novotná at the Women's Tennis Association
• Jana Novotná profile at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Jana Novotná at the Billie Jean King Cup