Tennis champion Jana Novotna dies at 49

Jana Novotna, the Czech tennis player who won the 1998 women’s singles at Wimbledon, has died at the age of 49.

A statement from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) read: “After a long battle with cancer, Jana died peacefully, surrounded by her family in her native Czech Republic, aged 49.”

Novotna was at the peak of her powers in the 1990s, winning 24 singles titles, but her success at SW19 was her only grand slam victory. Having been beaten in by Martina Hingis in the 1997 final, Novotna exacted her revenge a year later by downing the Swiss in the semi-final and went on to defeat Frenchwoman Nathalie Tauziat to lift the crown.

source: theguardian.com