HER approach to one of the most important matches in an impressive career may not have been the most diplomatic but you have to hand it to Jana Novotna.
When the Czech world number two said in advance of yesterday's semi- final clash with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario that she was playing well enough to comfortably beat her old rival there was nothing hollow about the boast.
Honours were even between the pair with eight wins apiece in their previous 16 meetings but they had never before come up against each other on grass and, despite Sanchez Vicario having made the final of this event for the past two years, on this surface, it was clear, there was a world of difference between them.
It was the Spaniard who made the early breakthrough, taking a break of serve in the fifth game and looking to have a slight edge in a match that presented a stark contrast of styles.
Novotna bounced straight back, however, coming from 30-0 down to get back on level terms and then coming out on top of a frantic session of service swapping to win the first set 6-4.
The former French Open champion was always in trouble from that point, with five of the next six games slipping away and Novotna getting to serve at 5-1 up for the match. Briefly Sanchez Vicario recovered her early form, producing two superb service returns and then a thunderous cross court backhand to save the game but in the next her resistance was broken as the Czech's darting approaches to the net again paid off on her opponent's service.
At 15-40 the Spaniard once again pulled something magical out of the bag, with a stunning backhand pass down the line delaying the inevitable but on the next point the eighth seed, under considerable pressure, hit a lobbed ball very short which
Novotna put away with a driving cross court forehand for victory.
A gleeful Novotna said afterwards: "I think I'm now playing the aggressive grass game I've wanted to for a long time and I'm finally getting the touch I need at the net." She steered the post match interview away from her defeated rival but Sanchez Vicario did pass one remark the other way, commenting when asked about the Czech's chances of winning a first Grand Slam title tomorrow that "I don't know, we've seen her in the final here before and she choked so we'll have to wait and see."
Novotna's opponent in her second Wimbledon final will be title favourite Martina Hingis with the young Swiss star earlier confirming her position as the queen of the teens by roundly defeating her young Russian rival Anna Kournikova 6-3, 6-2 in a 67 minute long match that each player generously sprinkled with errors.
