Jana Novotná (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjana ˈnovotnaː]; 2 October 1968 – 19 November 2017) was a Czech professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in 1997, and as the world No. 1 in women's doubles for 67 weeks. Novotná won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998, and was runner-up in three other singles majors. She also won twelve major women's doubles titles (completing a double career Grand Slam), four major mixed doubles titles, and three Olympic medals. Novotná played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career.

Novotná turned professional in February 1987. She was known primarily for her success as a doubles player in the early years of her career. Novotná began to have success in singles in the early 1990s, once four-time Grand Slam singles champion Hana Mandlíková became her coach. Mandlíková coached her for nine years. Her earlier coach was Mike Estep.

At the 1990 French Open, Novotná, seeded 11th, achieved her best results in Grand Slam singles play up until that point. Having reached the round of 16, she faced Argentinian Gabriela Sabatini (seeded fourth). In their four previous meetings Sabatini got the better of her three times, including two straight-set wins. This time proved to be different, as Novotná turned the tables on her. Although Novotná had disposed of Sabatini, she would have to face yet another difficult opponent in the quarterfinals, Katerina Maleeva (seeded eighth) from Bulgaria. In their two previous meetings Novotná had lost both times, and after Maleeva won the opening set, it appeared Novotná was about to lose to her for a third consecutive time; however, she recovered and eventually won. Despite her success, Novotná's toughest test would be against top-seeded Steffi Graf of Germany in the semifinals. When Novotná had faced her three years earlier at the 1987 French Open, Graf won in straight sets. Now, Graf again defeated her without dropping a set. She qualified for the first time for the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships in which she was beaten in the first round by Sabatini. She finished the year ranked No. 13.

Novotná enjoyed an excellent start to the 1991 season at the Australian Open, where she was seeded tenth and beat Zina Garrison-Jackson 7–6, 6–4 in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinal. The path to the final became considerably more difficult, as Novotná had to contend with top-seeded Steffi Graf in the quarterfinal encounter. In their ten previous meetings, Novotná had lost each time against Graf.

However, this time Novotná achieved the upset of her life by defeating Graf, the reigning champion of the last three years, 5–7, 6–4, 8–6. Now just one win away from her first-ever Grand Slam final, Novotná had to stop Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals to get there; this she did, setting up a showdown against Monica Seles in the final. Seles eventually won in three sets. At the end of the year Novotná was ranked No. 7.

Two years later, at Wimbledon, Novotná's game hit full stride, as she played some of her finest tennis ever. But for Novotná (seeded eighth) to capture the title, her path would have to go through Sabatini (seeded fourth), Martina Navratilova (seeded second) and top-seeded Steffi Graf. Going into her quarterfinal against Sabatini, Novotná had lost six consecutive matches against the Argentine. This time, she took Sabatini apart in straight sets, prevailing 6–4, 6–3. Novotná then set her sights on a semifinal clash against Martina Navratilova, who had won each of their previous five matches. However, Novotná defeated Navratilova, setting up the Championship match against Graf. After losing a tight first set, Novotná took the second set and then had a game point serving at 4–1 in the third set. With victory seemingly within her grasp, she lost her nerve, double-faulted, and allowed Graf to recover. Graf took the next five games and the title. During the prize presentation ceremony, a distraught Novotná burst into tears and cried on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder. The Duchess comforted her. Novotná achieved a year-end ranking of No. 6.

She began the 1994 season by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. In her quarterfinal match, she played Gabriela Sabatini, in what turned out to be their last head-to-head encounter. In their previous meeting, on the grasscourts at the 1993 Wimbledon Championships, Novotná beat Sabatini in a straight-set quarterfinal victory. This time, on the Australian hardcourts, Sabatini defeated Novotná in straight sets. At the French Open, Novotná was beaten in the first round by Anna Smashnova in straight sets. At Wimbledon, Novotná reached the quarterfinals where she again faced Martina Navratilova in a rematch from the previous year. Novotná lost in three sets. At the season's final Grand Slam, the US Open, the seventh seeded Novotná worked her way to the semifinals where she played top-seeded Steffi Graf. Dating back to the 1992 French Open, Novotná had lost nine consecutive matches against Graf. This trend would continue as Graf defeated Novotná in straight sets.

It took four years for Novotná to reach another Wimbledon final. In 1997, she faced top-seeded Martina Hingis, and lost in three sets. But to get back to the final, Novotná had to get past Mary Joe Fernández in the round of 16. She outlasted Fernandez then defeated Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia in the quarterfinals in straight sets. Now back in the semifinals of Wimbledon, her next opponent would be Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. She had prevailed against Novotná in seven of their nine previous contests, but the majority of those matches were played on clay and hard-courts, at which Sánchez Vicario excelled.^{[citation needed]}