Jiří Novák

Jiří Novák was a Czechoslovak tennis player who played professionally from 1993 to 2007. Novák achieved a career-best singles ranking of #5 in the world in October 2002, and a doubles ranking of #6 in the world in July 2001. Novák was the first player to compete against Roger Federer at Wimbledon, beating him in five sets.

Novák won seven ATP singles title during his career with his first coming at the 1996 Auckland Open with victory against Brett Steven. As a doubles player he won 18 ATP titles between September 1995 and July 2006, often partnered with compatriot David Rikl.

At Grand Slams Novák reached the singles semi-finals at the 2002 Australian Open before losing to eventual champion Thomas Johansson. Novák was a two-time runner-up in the doubles, the first at the 2001 Wimbledon tournament with David Rikl, and the second at the 2002 US Open when he partnered with Radek Štěpánek.

Novák competed in the singles and doubles at three consecutive Olympic Games; 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, and 2004 Athína. His best performance came in the doubles at the 1996 Games when he and Daniel Vacek reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to the British duo of Neil Broad and Tim Henman.