Princess of Wails in Upset

When Jana Novotna tossed the ball to serve--then caught it--her momentary hesitation at match point caused a stir in the packed Centre Court gallery Thursday at Wimbledon.

Any sign Novotna might have another spectacular collapse was enough to cause high anxiety, because another disastrous finish would be too cruel.

As it turned out, the third-seeded Novotna of the Czech Republic was probably the most self-possessed person on the grounds. Moments later, she put in a strong first serve and Martina Hingis knocked her backhand return in the net. Novotna’s 6-4, 6-4 semifinal victory over the defending champion and top-seeded Swiss allowed the crowd to resume breathing normally again.

Until Saturday’s final, at least. That’s when Novotna will meet a most unlikely opponent, 16th-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France.

Tauziat, who had never reached a Grand Slam semifinal, defeated unseeded Natasha Zvereva of Belarus, 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, becoming the first Frenchwoman to reach the Wimbledon final since Suzanne Lenglen won here 73 years ago.

This being England, the importance of the past is paramount and history dredged up at every turn. Novotna, however, certainly doesn’t need reminders of her famous crash here in the 1993 final, when she blew a 4-1 third-set lead against Steffi Graf and later cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent.

That show of emotion earned Novotna a special place in British hearts. In 1997, admiration increased when she pushed Hingis to three sets in the final.

“Let’s just hope what the Duchess of Kent said last year is right,” Novotna said. “She said, ‘The third time is lucky.’ So here I am.”

The Hingis-Novotna match was a marvelous display of both grass-court tennis and guile. Hingis had four aces to none for Novotna, but Novotna played thoughtful, intelligent tennis, cleverly using her slice as a weapon.

And Novotna, 29, stayed as calm as she had been against Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, never panicking while losing the opening nine points and falling behind 3-0 in the first set.

She won six of the next seven games and took the first set, 6-4, then stayed resolute in the second. Hingis, in fact, was the one losing her poise, tossing her racket into the net at one point.

At 4-4 in the second set, Novotna broke Hingis, leaping high to put away a difficult backhand volley. And the final game was impressive as Novotna held at love--even serving and volleying on a second serve to go up 30-0. When Hingis netted the backhand return, Novotna went to one knee on the grass and was given a standing ovation.

Hingis was gracious in defeat.

“Sometimes it seems like the older, the better,” she said of Novotna and Tauziat, 30.

Said Novotna of Hingis, “It’s never easy to play your doubles partner and to play somebody who speaks Czech who is your friend. We know each other’s games very well. It was emotional. I told Martina, ‘You beat me last year, I gave it back to you now.’ And she said, ‘Yes, you did.’ ”

Since winning the Australian Open, Hingis has failed to reach the final of the next two Grand Slams, losing to Monica Seles at the French Open and now to Novotna. She looked sluggish and seemed more breathless than usual after difficult rallies.

“I guess I’m not the player I was last year,” Hingis, 17, said. “I kind of had difficulties, a lot of rain this week. I was not in the best shape anymore today.”

Tauziat and Zvereva were sharp, though, playing the best tennis of their lives. Zvereva had beaten Graf and Seles to reach the semifinal, and appeared headed to the final after winning the first set in 21 minutes.

Tauziat said she was embarrassed and that she turned that emotion in her favor, getting angry and more determined.

“When you are in a tiebreaker in the second set and you win the tiebreaker, 7-1, you are a fighter,” she said.

Her reaction after beating Zvereva was dramatic. Tauziat screamed, then fell back on the lawn, lying there, hands over her face. After getting up and shaking hands, she sat down and hid her face again, this time in her towel.

“For me, I’m not on the moon already, but almost,” she said.

The drama of this tournament finally caught up to Zvereva, who was trying to reach her first Grand Slam final since losing to Graf at the 1988 French Open, 6-0, 6-0.

“I’m so tired, I need a mental institution break,” Zvereva said.

And so, Thursday was veterans’ day at Wimbledon. Perhaps all the attention given to the teenagers helped Tauziat and Novotna.

“Maybe they gave us an opportunity to play well, [but] we don’t want to be kicked off yet and that’s good for tennis,” Tauziat said.