Novotna finally wins elusive Grand Slam

The Duchess of Kent warmly clasped Jana Novotna's hands, and this time there were no tears, no need for consoling words, no mention of the day's jittery moments bringing back memories of two final fiascoes.

This time Novotna's blue eyes sparkled as brightly as Wimbledon's silver championship trophy, and the duchess gently teased her, saying: "What was the big thing?"Winning Wimbledon last Saturday was only the biggest thing in Novotna's life, a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) victory over France's Nathalie Tauziat that gave the 29-year-old from the Czech Republic her first Grand Slam title on the court of her most traumatic losses.

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 didn't want to let go.

"This is what I have been working for," she said, "for many, many years."

Novotna dedicated her victory to Hana Mandlikova, the coach and friend who has been with her for nine years.

"Without her, I would never have made this championship," Novotna said.

"If she doesn't win another match, it doesn't matter," said Mandlikova, a former tennis star who never won Wimbledon on her own but who always believed in Novotna.

No one could watch Novotna's performance without remembering how she dampened the duchess' 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 Novotna'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 "third time lucky" if she returned to the final.

"You were absolutely right," 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 player never to win a major. The $620,000 winner'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 duchess' shoulder, came to cheer Novotna and share with her the moment of her triumph.