Petra Kvitova, Helena Sukova and Wimbledon chairman Philip Brook were among 300 people that attended the funeral of Jana Novotna on Monday.
Novotna passed away on November 19th after a long battle with cancer at the age of 49. Her death stunned that world of tennis with few people knowing about the severity of her illness. The funeral was held in her birthplace in Brno, the Czech Republic. Novotna returned to Brno several years ago after living in Florida.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova praised Novotna for inspiring her career. Novotna peaked at a high of 2nd in the WTA rankings in 1997. Her biggest achievement occurred at the 1998 Wimbledon championships when she claimed her first and only grand slam title. Five years after suffering a heartbreaking loss in the final of the tournament, where she was leading Steffi Graf in the final set. It was at that tournament where Novotna made world headlines after crying on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent.
“Jana was always amazing and smiling. I will remember that. Her frivolity was incredible. She congratulated me on both Wimbledon victories, she even cried at the first. She was my model (idol).” Kvitova told reporters on Monday.
“I have admired her fighting spirit. She advanced to the Wimbledon final twice, but won it for the third time only.” She later added.
The chairman of the Czech tennis association, Ivo Kaderka, added that the world has lost a ‘great person.’
“Not only a great tennis legend has passed away, but also a great person and a good girl. This has saddened us all,” Kaderka told CTK.
Novotna won 24 WTA singles titles during her career and ended every season inside the world’s top 10 between 1989-1998. She was also an exceptional doubles player, winning 12 grand slam titles in the women’s doubles and a further four in the mixed. In total, Novotna won 100 WTA titles.
She is also a three-time Olympic medallist. Claiming two silvers in the doubles (1988 and 1996) and a bronze in the 1996 singles competition.
After retiring from the tour, the Czech continued working in the sport. Briefly coaching France’s Marion Bartoli and mentored Barbora Krejcikova. She also worked for the BBC during Wimbledon.
According to the WTA record book, only six women in the Open Era have won more WTA doubles titles than Novotna.
