Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,15 Jul 2023,9 mins

Jana Novotna: From choker to champion

Sporting Witness

Available for over a year

In 1993, the Czech player Jana Novotna threw away a huge lead in the ladies' final at Wimbledon but captured the hearts of tennis fans by breaking down in tears on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent, the tournament's patron. Five years later, Novotna was back on Centre Court and this time she won. She tells her story to Kirsty McQuire. Jana Novotna died of ovarian cancer in 2017. The programme is a Sparklab Production for the BBC World Service and was first broadcast in 2015. (Photo: Czech tennis player Jana Novotna is consoled by the Duchess of Kent after losing the women's singles final at the 1993 Wimbledon Championships, held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, 3 July 1993. Credit: Getty Images)

Programme Website
More episodes