Jana Novotna, Czech Winner of Wimbledon, Dies at 49
“When she lost to Steffi Graf at Wimbledon in 1993, I was crying,” said Jan Kodes, a fellow Czech
tennis player who won three Grand Slams — including one Wimbledon title — in the 1970s.
Jana Novotna, the Czech tennis star who cried on the Duchess of Kent’s shoulder after losing a Wimbledon singles final in 1993
and then triumphed at the same tournament five years later, died on Sunday in the Czech Republic.
Novotna reached the final of the Australian Open once and appeared in the semifinals of the French Open and the United States Open,
but Wimbledon was her only Grand Slam singles victory.
Kodes, don’t cry, I will win it here one day anyhow.’ ”
“And she did five years later,” Kodes said, as quoted by the Czech news website Idnes.