Karel Nováček

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Karel Nováček
Country (sports) Czechoslovakia (1984–92)
 Czech Republic (1993–96)
ResidenceBoca Raton, Florida
Born (1965-03-30) 30 March 1965 (age 59)
Prostějov, Czechoslovakia
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro1984
Retired1996
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,729,540
Singles
Career record299–246 (54.9%)
Career titles13
Highest rankingNo. 8 (18 November 1991)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1995)
French OpenQF (1987, 1993)
Wimbledon4R (1991)
US OpenSF (1994)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsRR (1991)
Doubles
Career record168–179
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 25 (28 February 1994)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1994)
French OpenQF (1990)
Wimbledon3R (1994)
US OpenF (1993)

Karel Nováček (born 30 March 1965) is a retired Czech former top ten tennis player born in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic). In his career, Nováček won 13 singles titles and six doubles titles. His highest singles ranking was World No. 8, which he achieved on 18 November 1991.[1]

His best performance at a Grand Slam came at the 1994 US Open where he defeated Alexander Vladimirovich Volkov, Andriy Medvedev, Todd Woodbridge, Javier Frana and Jaime Yzaga before losing to Michael Stich in the semifinal. In 1997, Novacek was suspended for three months for failing a drug test at the 1995 French Open; he forfeited $185,765, but denied taking cocaine knowingly.[2]

Nováček lived in Boca Raton, Florida, United States for 20 years, and then moved back to Czech Republic. Karel and Maya Nováček married in 1990; as of 2002, they had three children.[3] In 2002, the Boca Raton News reported that their ten-year-old daughter Anika was a promising tennis player, winning several tournaments.[3]

Career finals[edit]

Singles (13 titles, 7 runners-up)[edit]

Legend (singles)
Grand Slam (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (1–0)
ATP Tour (12–7)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Aug 1986 Washington, U.S. Clay France Thierry Tulasne 6–1, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 1–1 Oct 1986 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) United States Brad Gilbert 6–3, 3–6, 5–7, 0–6
Loss 1–2 Oct 1987 Palermo, Italy Clay Argentina Martín Jaite 6–7(5–7), 7–6(9–7), 4–6
Win 2–2 Jul 1989 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Spain Emilio Sánchez 6–2, 6–4
Win 3–2 May 1990 Munich, West Germany Clay Austria Thomas Muster 6–4, 6–2
Loss 3–3 Aug 1990 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Argentina Horacio de la Peña 4–6, 6–7(4–7), 6–2, 2–6
Win 4–3 Jan 1991 Auckland, New Zealand Hard France Jean-Philippe Fleurian 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4)
Loss 4–4 Apr 1991 Estoril, Portugal Clay Spain Sergi Bruguera 6–7(7–9), 1–6
Win 5–4 May 1991 Hamburg, Germany Clay Sweden Magnus Gustafsson 6–3, 6–3, 5–7, 0–6, 6–1
Win 6–4 Aug 1991 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Sweden Magnus Gustafsson 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Win 7–4 Aug 1991 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Sweden Magnus Gustafsson 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Win 8–4 Jul 1992 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Spain Jordi Arrese 6–2, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5
Win 9–4 Aug 1992 San Marino, San Marino Clay Spain Francisco Clavet 7–5, 6–2
Win 10–4 Aug 1992 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Argentina Franco Davín 6–1, 6–1
Win 11–4 Feb 1993 Dubai, U.A.E. Hard France Fabrice Santoro 6–4, 7–5
Loss 11–5 Feb 1993 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet Sweden Anders Järryd 3–6, 5–7
Win 12–5 Mar 1993 Zaragoza, Spain Clay Sweden Jonas Svensson 3–6, 6–2, 6–1
Loss 12–6 Apr 1993 Estoril, Portugal Clay Ukraine Andriy Medvedev 4–6, 2–6
Loss 12–7 Jul 1993 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Spain Sergi Bruguera 3–6, 4–6
Win 13–7 Aug 1994 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Australia Richard Fromberg 7–5, 6–4, 7–6(9–7)

Doubles (6 titles, 10 runners-up)[edit]

Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Jun 1988 Athens, Greece Clay Peru Pablo Arraya Sweden Rikard Bergh
Sweden Per Henricsson
4–6, 5–7
Loss 2. Aug 1989 Båstad, Swedish Clay Czechoslovakia Josef Čihák Sweden Per Henricsson
Sweden Nicklas Utgren
5–7, 2–6
Win 1. Oct 1991 Berlin, Germany Carpet Czechoslovakia Petr Korda Netherlands Jan Siemerink
Czechoslovakia Daniel Vacek
3–6, 7–5, 7–5
Loss 3. Apr 1992 Barcelona, Spain Clay United States Ivan Lendl Ecuador Andrés Gómez
Spain Javier Sánchez
4–6, 4–6
Loss 4. Apr 1992 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Czechoslovakia Petr Korda Germany Boris Becker
Germany Michael Stich
4–6, 4–6
Win 2. Aug 1992 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Czechoslovakia Branislav Stankovič Sweden Jonas Björkman
Australia Jon Ireland
7–5, 6–1
Loss 5. Oct 1992 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Czechoslovakia David Rikl Netherlands Tom Nijssen
Czechoslovakia Cyril Suk
3–6, 4–6
Win 3. Mar 1993 Zaragoza, Spain Carpet Czech Republic Martin Damm United States Mike Bauer
Czech Republic David Rikl
2–6, 6–4, 7–5
Loss 6. May 1993 Munich, Germany Clay Germany Carl-Uwe Steeb Czech Republic Martin Damm
Sweden Henrik Holm
0–6, 6–3, 5–7
Loss 7. Sep 1993 U.S. Open, New York Hard Czech Republic Martin Damm United States Ken Flach
United States Rick Leach
7–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss 8. Mar 1994 Zaragoza, Spain Carpet Czech Republic Martin Damm Sweden Henrik Holm
Sweden Anders Järryd
5–7, 2–6
Win 4. Aug 1994 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Sweden Mats Wilander Czech Republic Tomáš Krupa
Czech Republic Pavel Vízner
W/O
Win 5. Oct 1994 Ostrava, Czech Republic Carpet Czech Republic Martin Damm South Africa Gary Muller
South Africa Piet Norval
6–4, 1–6, 6–3
Win 6. Oct 1994 Santiago, Chile Clay Sweden Mats Wilander Spain Tomás Carbonell
Spain Francisco Roig
4–6, 7–6, 7–6
Loss 9. Feb 1995 Milan, Italy Carpet Czech Republic Petr Korda Germany Boris Becker
France Guy Forget
2–6, 4–6
Loss 10. Feb 1996 Dubai, UAE Hard Czech Republic Jiří Novák Zimbabwe Byron Black
Canada Grant Connell
0–6, 1–6

Singles performance timeline[edit]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Career SR
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A NH A A A 3R 1R 2R A 3R 4R A 0 / 5
French Open 3R 1R 1R QF 1R 3R 4R 1R 1R QF 1R 1R A 0 / 12
Wimbledon A A 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R 4R 1R 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 10
US Open A A 1R 1R A A 1R 3R A 3R SF 1R A 0 / 7
Grand Slam SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 0 0 / 34
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Not MS1

Before 1990
1R A 3R A A 1R A 0 / 3
Key Biscayne 2R 2R 2R A A 2R 1R 0 / 5
Monte Carlo 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R A 0 / 6
Rome 2R 1R 1R 3R 1R 1R A 0 / 6
Hamburg 1R W QF 3R 1R A A 1 / 5
Canada A A A A A A A 0 / 0
Cincinnati 1R A A A 1R A A 0 / 2
Stuttgart (Stockholm) 2R 3R 3R A A A A 0 / 3
Paris 1R QF 1R 3R A A A 0 / 4
Masters Series SR N/A 0 / 8 1 / 6 0 / 7 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 1 1 / 34
Year-end ranking 138 159 33 76 127 74 34 8 23 17 28 121 409 N/A

Records[edit]

Time span Other selected records Players matched
1987 Triple bagel win (6–0, 6–0, 6–0) Nikola Špear
Stefan Edberg
Ivan Lendl
Sergi Bruguera

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Karel Nováček at the International Tennis Federation Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "Wilander and Novacek are banned". The New York Times. 15 May 1997. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b Tom Glucksmann (25 December 2002). "There's a new Novacek in town". Boca Raton News.

External links[edit]