# 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.
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 |
| 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 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 1R | A | 3R | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 3 |
| Key Biscayne | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | A | 2R | 1R | 0 / 5 |
| Monte Carlo | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 0 / 6 |
| Rome | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 6 |
| Hamburg | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 1R | W | QF | 3R | 1R | A | A | 1 / 5 |
| Canada | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 |
| Cincinnati | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 |
| Stuttgart (Stockholm) | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 2R | 3R | 3R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 |
| Paris | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | Not MS1 Before 1990 | 1R | QF | 1R | 3R | A | A | A | 0 / 4 |
| Masters Series SR | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 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 |