Novotna buries ghosts of the past

Novotna tenderly caressed the giant silver salver, kissed it over and over, and leaned her cheek on it as if it were a pillow she didn8217;t want to let go. 8220;This is what I have been working for,8221; she said, 8220;for many, many years.8221;Novotna dedicated her victory to Hana Mandlikova, the coach and friend who has been with her for nine years. 8220;Without her, I would never have madethis championship,8221; Novotna said.

8220;If she doesn8217;t win another match, it doesn8217;t matter,8221; said Mandlikova, a former tennis star who never won Wimbledon on her own, but who always believed in Novotna. No one could watch Novotna8217;s performance without remembering how she dampened the Duchess8217; white suit with sobs in 1993 after choking up and whacking the wildest of shots with a 4-1 lead in the third set of the final against Steffi Graf.

Just as fresh in memory was Novotna8217;s loss a year ago after leading Martina Hingis by a set and a break. Suddenly, Novotna could do nothing right, and Hingis could do nothing wrong.

The Duchess told Novotna then that she would be 8220;third time lucky8221; if she returned to the final.

8220;You were absolutely right,8221; Novotna told her as they stood again, holding hands at the award ceremony on Centre Court.

Novotna reached the final this time determined to rewrite her legacy, to put away the failures and excuses and move beyond being called, derisively, the best woman playernever to win a major. The 620,000 winner8217;s prize and the No 2 ranking she would achieve meant little compared with the feeling of being called, forever, Wimbledon champion.

And the fans, touched by her vulnerability and the manner in which she breached royal protocol by crying on the Duchess8217; shoulder, came to cheer Novotna and share with her the moment of her triumph. 8220;She has always felt the warmth that the people here have for her after 1993,8221; Mandlikova said. 8220;They took her to their hearts because she showed she was human. Now Jana talks the whole year about coming back to Wimbledon.8221;

When Novotna reached set point with a diving forehand volley crosscourt that epitomized her athleticism, she hopped up and down and pumped her fist as the crowd roared. Significantly, she didn8217;t celebrate when she actually clinched the set on the next point on a netted return by Tauziat. Instead, Novotna breathed deeply, sighing in relief and preparing to finish the job.She served confidently to push the set to atie-breaker, and won it easily by taking the last five points, the final one on a crisp forehand return down the line that Tauziat couldn8217;t touch.

Novotna slowly fell to both knees, tears welling in her eyes, before she hugged Tauziat, who won 310,000, and charged into the stands to embrace her mother, Liba, Mandlikova, and other friends.

Novotna8217;s mother had not come to Wimbledon for the two previous finals, and Novotna wasn8217;t sure she wanted her to fly over this time from the Czech Republic.