Czech tennis player Jana Novotna, a Wimbledon champion in 1998 and 16-time Grand Slam winner in doubles and mixed doubles, has died at the age of 49 after a long battle with cancer, the Women's Tennis Association announced on 20
th Nov 2017.
Novotna entered the tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
In a career spanning 14 years on the professional circuit that included 24 WTA singles titles and 76 doubles titles, Novotna finally won her only singles Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 1998 after losing in the final in 1993 and 1997.
She won the hearts of fans around the world when she burst into tears after throwing away what looked like a certain victory against Steffi Graf in the 1993 final when on the verge of winning and was consoled afterwards by a British duchess.
Novotna was a three-time Olympic medalist and a member of Czechoslovakia's 1988 Fed Cup championship team.
