Karel Nováček

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.

Karel Nováček

Country (sports)	Czechoslovakia (1984–92) Czech Republic (1993–96)
Residence	Boca Raton, Florida
Born	(1965-03-30) 30 March 1965 Prostějov, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	1984
Retired	1996
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$3,729,540
Singles
Career record	299–246 (54.9%)
Career titles	13
Highest ranking	No. 8 (18 November 1991)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (1995)
French Open	QF (1987, 1993)
Wimbledon	4R (1991)
US Open	SF (1994)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (1991)
Doubles
Career record	168–179
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 25 (28 February 1994)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1994)
French Open	QF (1990)
Wimbledon	3R (1994)
US Open	F (1993)

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.

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. In 2002, the Boca Raton News reported that their ten-year-old daughter Anika was a promising tennis player, winning several tournaments.

Career finals

Singles (13 titles, 7 runners-up)

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	Thierry Tulasne	6–1, 7–6(7–4)
Loss	1–1	Oct 1986	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Brad Gilbert	6–3, 3–6, 5–7, 0–6
Loss	1–2	Oct 1987	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Martín Jaite	6–7(5–7), 7–6(9–7), 4–6
Win	2–2	Jul 1989	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Emilio Sánchez	6–2, 6–4
Win	3–2	May 1990	Munich, West Germany	Clay	Thomas Muster	6–4, 6–2
Loss	3–3	Aug 1990	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Horacio de la Peña	4–6, 6–7(4–7), 6–2, 2–6
Win	4–3	Jan 1991	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Jean-Philippe Fleurian	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4)
Loss	4–4	Apr 1991	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	6–7(7–9), 1–6
Win	5–4	May 1991	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Magnus Gustafsson	6–3, 6–3, 5–7, 0–6, 6–1
Win	6–4	Aug 1991	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Magnus Gustafsson	7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Win	7–4	Aug 1991	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Clay	Magnus Gustafsson	7–6(7–5), 6–2
Win	8–4	Jul 1992	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Jordi Arrese	6–2, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5
Win	9–4	Aug 1992	San Marino, San Marino	Clay	Francisco Clavet	7–5, 6–2
Win	10–4	Aug 1992	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Clay	Franco Davín	6–1, 6–1
Win	11–4	Feb 1993	Dubai, U.A.E.	Hard	Fabrice Santoro	6–4, 7–5
Loss	11–5	Feb 1993	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Anders Järryd	3–6, 5–7
Win	12–5	Mar 1993	Zaragoza, Spain	Clay	Jonas Svensson	3–6, 6–2, 6–1
Loss	12–6	Apr 1993	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Andriy Medvedev	4–6, 2–6
Loss	12–7	Jul 1993	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	3–6, 4–6
Win	13–7	Aug 1994	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Richard Fromberg	7–5, 6–4, 7–6(9–7)

Doubles (6 titles, 10 runners-up)

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

Singles performance timeline

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

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

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

External links

• Karel Nováček at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Karel Nováček at the International Tennis Federation
• Karel Nováček at the Davis Cup