A MATTER OF DESTINY FOR NOVOTNA.

Byline: Robin Finn The New York Times

Five years ago she lent a devastated Jana Novotna a shoulder to cry on, and last year, after Novotna again came away distraught from her attempt to make her first career Grand Slam title a Wimbledon title, the duchess of York, Wimbledon's most loyal and royal hostess, gave the Czech veteran some sterling advice. Three's a charm, the duchess assured her, and on Saturday at Wimbledon that prediction came true.

Turning a royal wish into a royal command, Novotna, whose painstaking quest to win this Wimbledon title had begun to be the stuff of legends, provided the answer to her own prayers with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) victory over 16th-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, like Novotna a serve-and-volley throwback to times gone by.

The instant her match-winning forehand return coasted straight down the sideline the way she'd hoped it would, the 29-year-old Novotna fell to her knees and burst into tears. For a change, on finals day at Wimbledon, Novotna's tears were tears of joy.

After embracing the 30-year-old Tauziat, the first French woman to reach this final since Suzanne Lenglen won in 1925 and the lowest-ranked Wimbledon finalist in the Open era, Novotna scampered into the stands to hug her longtime coach, Hana Mandlikova, and her mother, Liba.

Then she hustled back to Centre Court for an emotional reunion with the royal benefactor who had predicted she would win this championship if she found the will to reach its final round a third time. The duchess clasped both of Novotna's hands in hers, told her she was proud of her, and then gave her the silver trophy that had eluded her in 1993 and 1997.

Novotna, who was 0 for 3 in Grand Slam finals until Saturday, said she was so dazed by the time she struck the final winner of the tiebreaker that she didn't even know what shot she'd hit: All that mattered was that her last shot was an unreturnable shot.

As she had in her semifinal against top-ranked Martina Hingis, the teen-ager who defeated her in Wimbledon's 1997 final, Novotna got off to a tremulous beginning: She failed to convert a break point against Tauziat in the opening game of the first set and, handicapped by a pair of double faults, promptly lost her own serve to trail 2-0 after the French underdog skimmed a backhand volley across the net at break point.

Novotna had trouble controlling her serve throughout the match - she double faulted seven times - but she played with a resolve that never wavered.

``I was really tense from the beginning all the way until the end,'' Novotna said. ``I said to myself, `This is wonderful. How do you think you're going to win this championship without your serve?' ''

Novotna broke straight back courtesy of a pair of backhand errors by Tauziat, who tended to let out a piercing shriek with every mistake, high-decibel behavior for the same player who blew the whistle and called out the grunt police on Monica Seles here in 1992. Novotna held for 2-2, and the set unfolded on serve until the seventh game, where the Czech veteran finally converted her seventh break point with an overhead just after Tauziat had saved the sixth break point with an overhead reply to a limp lob from Novotna.

Novotna started the next game with a double fault, but she regrouped, took herself to game point by following her second serve with a bold half volley, and achieved a 5-3 advantage that, after Tauziat held for 4-5, put her in prime position to serve for the opening set.

With more and better acrobatics at the net, including a high backhand volley that took her to 30-15 and a lunging forehand volley that gave her a double set point, Novotna earned the set when Tauziat, who began to unravel once Novotna's aggressive shots began zeroing in on their targets, pumped a forehand return into the net, her 16th unforced error of the set.

``Yes,'' hissed Novotna, who then expanded her hold on the match by breaking Tauziat in the first game of the second set. Consolidation of that break wasn't a given: An out-of-control double fault put Novotna 0-30 in arrears, but her resolve, and Tauziat's lack of it, soon put her back in front 2-0.

When Novotna managed to swoop down and scoop up a backhand half volley that soared past the French challenger and kept her ahead, 3-1, she looked up at the leaden sky and screamed, ``Thank God!'' Nervousness played a definite role in this final, but the good news for Novotna was that, for a change, the opponent's nerves were just as frayed as hers.

But the opponent's serves weren't as disobedient as hers, and when Novotna, just after using an ace to save face at triple break point of the fourth game, unfurled her seventh double fault, the second set was level at 3-3. The break didn't rattle Novotna for long and, just as she had done in the first set, she immediately repaired it, this time with a backhand volley winner after another head-on exchange of volleys at the net with Tauziat.

Novotna then held for a 5-3 lead that, had it not been for her history of folding in the home stretch, might have looked commanding. After Tauziat held for 4-5, it was up to Novotna, who pronounced herself a different player from the bundle of anxiety that frittered away a 4-1 third-set lead over Steffi Graf here in the 1993 final, to serve for the title.

On first try, she buckled: She pushed a forehand volley into the net to put herself behind 15-40, netted a forehand on Tauziat's third break opportunity, and the set suddenly became anybody's set at 5-5. Tauziat held for a 6-5 lead, and then it was Novotna's turn to try and stay in the set and force a tiebreaker: This time, she didn't compromise herself.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) It's no wonder Jana Novotna is gleeful. She won her first Grand Slam title at 29.

Dave Caulkin/Associated Press

(2) Jana Novotna is unable to hold back the tears after delivering the final blow in her match with Nathalie Tauziat. After so many tries, she finally ended up on top.

Sergio Carmona/Knight-Ridder Tribune