Novotna Hot And Knows It

In a startling transformation, Jana Novotna apparently has turned into self-esteem advocate Stuart Smalley: “I’m good enough, I come to the net enough, and, doggone it, everyone on the tour likes me!”

No one was more pleased than Novotna with her fabulous, intelligent, nearly perfect play here Friday night in the Chase Championships. She even provided those adjectives.

She was relishing a soul-satisfying 6-0, 6-3 victory over archrival-doubles partner Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the quarterfinals of the WTA Tour’s season-ending championships at Madison Square Garden. The self-described hottest player on the tour extended her winning streak to 14 matches and has won three tournaments in five weeks, so she has revved up her 12-step vocabulary.

The 28-year-old has never lacked for talent, only the mental outlook to harness it. That changed this year, when she reached the semifinals of the French Open, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics.

Not only is Novotna playing a better game, she’s talking a better game. She has softened the bitterness and sense of persecution that sometimes seep into her comments with a new positive-thinking program.

A sampling from Friday night’s postmatch press conference:

In response to a reporter’s observation that she had played with skill and confidence, Novotna said, “You are right, I have been very skillful, not only today but for the past few tournaments. Basically, in the first set, I didn’t miss a ball.”

Answering a question about her decision to volley so much, she said, “I said to myself, ‘Jana, you are so talented, if you can do it once, you can do it another time.’ ”

Novotna’s analysis of her play at net: “I have been exceptionally good at the net.”

She was exceptionally good against Sanchez Vicario, who had beaten Novotna the last seven times they met. The most painful loss was at the Olympics, where Sanchez Vicario’s victory stirred acrimony between the doubles partners.

At Atlanta, Novotna accused Sanchez Vicario of incessantly questioning line calls and belittled some aspects of the Spaniard’s game. She ended her tirade by declaring that although Sanchez Vicario might have beaten her, Novotna was at least “more popular.”

These days, Novotna is popular with herself, but she and Sanchez Vicario are still on the outs. After this tournament, they will end their lucrative doubles partnership of three years. They have won 15 doubles titles, including three Grand Slam titles. They are also the defending doubles champions here.

Sanchez Vicario will play next year with doubles specialist Gigi Fernandez, who is breaking up another successful doubles team, splitting from partner Natasha Zvereva. They too have had a falling out. Novotna will announce her new doubles partner at the end of this tournament.

Friday night’s match was all Novotna said it was. The second-ranked Sanchez Vicario could do nothing right in the first set. She won only three points on her serve, 11 total. Novotna won the first set in fewer than 19 minutes.

Novotna will play Steffi Graf in one semifinal today, and Martina Hingis will play Iva Majoli. Hingis defeated Kimiko Date on Friday night, 6-1, 6-2, ushering Date into retirement.