And it will have its greatest repercusions in a small corner of south-west London.

Novotna has been the darling of the Wimbledon crowds in recent years, the nearest they have had to a successor to those dual Queens of the Centre Court, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.

In terms of silverware, the 30-year-old Czech star was eclipsed in the 1990s first by Steffi Graf and then Martina Hingis.

But she earned the affections of Wimbledon supporters in a way that both those ruthless winners have never seemed able to manage.

Losing as an artform

The secret of her popularity came not in victory, but in the manner of her defeat.

Like Jean Van de Velde in golf and Frank Bruno in boxing, she tapped into a peculiar trait of British sports fans - a celebration of the "plucky loser".

Old pals act: The Duchess of Kent offers her congratulations in 1998

Sure, Novotna finally shrugged off her Wimbledon hoodoo, when she won the 1998 title to secure her lone Grand Slam trophy.

But even before that triumph her place in All England Club folklore was assured, following her defeats in the 1993 and '97 finals.

The aftermath of the '93 final, when she surrendered a 4-1 40-15 third-set lead to Graf, threw up one of the sport's most enduring double-acts - Novotna and the Duchess of the Kent.

Defeat proved hard to take for the then 24-year-old, and she broke down in tears on the shoulder of the duchess, who put a maternal arm around the suffering sportswoman.

Four years later she lost again, this time joking that she would steal the trophy from her conqueror Hingis.

But the circle was completed last year, when Novotna at last won - and the duchess was on hand to present her with her holy grail.

A friend in need

The pair have forged an unlikely friendship since the 1993 final.

And Novotna revealed that before telling the world of her retirement, she had informed the woman who had shared her highest and lowest moments in the game.

Novotna breathes a sigh of relief after finally winning Wimbledon

"I called her last night actually," Novotna said of the duchess.

"She said: 'Don't do it.' I said: 'I have to - but I'm still going to come back because I have that little (Wimbledon) badge'."

Novotna's retirement merely re-emphasises the gulf between the generations in the modern women's game.

Her departure follows the recent end of the career of another 30-year-old, Graf.

The sport is now dominated by a younger power bloc. Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Anna Kournikova the Williams sisters - these are the players who command the headlines.

Serve-volley success

This infusion of young blood, plus a general change in the style of play on the WTA Tour, has brought the curtain down for one of the sport's great serve-volleyers.

An emootional embrace from her mother as she wins the '98 crown

"The way it's heading now, the new generation, everybody is pretty much playing from the baseline," Novotna said, after announcing her retirement at the US Open.

"We may not see as many serve-and-volleyers as we did in the past, but they will bring something new which we all love."

As well as a successful singles career, Novotna can also point to a superb doubles record.

Sixteen Grand Slam doubles titles came her way, as she patnered some of the great players of the decade, including Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Gigi Fernandez, Davenport and Hingis herself - although the latter replaced her with the younger, more photogenic Kournikova in a move that sparked controversy on the circuit.

Thankfully, though, she is able to hang up her racket happily - having broken her Grand Slam singles duck.

"I think that winning Wimbledon last year made this decision much easier," Novotna concluded.

"Becoming a Grand Slam champion is the greatest thing ever - but don't forget tennis pretty much gave me everything, gave me the opportunity to travel, to speak another language, just to be a different kind of person.

"That's the one thing I will always appreciate and treasure."