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 Novotna ready -- and deserves -- to grab brass ring
Posted: Friday July 03, 1998 01:39 PM
Frank Deford is working his third Wimbledon as a commentator and essayist for HBO Sports. Check out HBO's coverage of the women's semifinals today from 5-8 p.m. ET. Jana Novotna has lost two Wimbledon finals and one Australian -- although all three of her defeats went to the full three sets. A number of very good players have been jinxed -- able to win about everything but a major championship. In the Open era, for example, the best players not to win a single Grand Slam tournament have included Rosie Casals and Tom Okker, Wendy Turnbull and Vitas Gerulitis, Pam Shriver and Brian Gottfried, Andrea Jaeger and Roscoe Tanner. But approaching her 30th birthday, Novotna is getting closer all the time. She finished 1997 ranked second and won the Chase Championships in Madison Square Garden. Jana Novotna: "I always said that the Chase Championships is the fifth Grand Slam, because you've got the top 16 players competing in the tournament, and playing best of five in the finals is definitely a challenge. I handled it pretty well and it was def initely the biggest win of my career."
The defeat of Hingis last year wasn't as excruciating as her first Wimbledon loss, when she fell apart with a mammoth third-set lead, but it couldn't be easy losing to the prodigy who is also her doubles partner. In fact, today's two rivals in singles won a doubles match together yesterday. JN: "Martina is very easygoing and we had a great time playing doubles out there. We just said to each other, 'Okay, let's win in two sets; we don't want to stay out here too long.'" Born in Communist Czechoslovakia, Novotna seemed humorless and melancholy to Western fans. But her heartrending defeats and the greater ease and comfort that come with maturity have softened her image. She lives now in Antwerp, that beautiful little Belgi an city of Peter Paul Rubens and diamonds. Nice place for a champion -- especially one who has started to win over the crowds. JN: "It feels great. That's why I have always said that Wimbledon has always been very good to me. That's why I love to come back here every single year and that's why I want to give something back to the crowd, because they are supporting me and I love t o play for them."
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