[6] At the 1990 French Open, Novotná, seeded 11th, achieved her best results in Grand Slam singles play up until that point.

Although Novotná had disposed of Sabatini, she would have to face yet another difficult opponent in the quarterfinals, Katerina Maleeva (seeded eighth) from Bulgaria.

[6] Novotná enjoyed an excellent start to the 1991 season at the Australian Open, where she was seeded tenth and beat Zina Garrison-Jackson 7–6, 6–4 in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinal.

The path to the final became considerably more difficult, as Novotná had to contend with top-seeded Steffi Graf in the quarterfinal encounter.

[8] However, this time Novotná achieved the upset of her life by defeating Graf, the reigning champion of the last three years, 5–7, 6–4, 8–6.

[6] Two years later, at Wimbledon, Novotná's game hit full stride, as she played some of her finest tennis ever.

Novotná then set her sights on a semifinal clash against Martina Navratilova, who had won each of their previous five matches.

During the prize presentation ceremony, a distraught Novotná burst into tears and cried on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder.

In their previous meeting, on the grasscourts at the 1993 Wimbledon Championships, Novotná beat Sabatini in a straight-set quarterfinal victory.

At the season's final Grand Slam, the US Open, the seventh seeded Novotná worked her way to the semifinals where she played top-seeded Steffi Graf.

She had prevailed against Novotná in seven of their nine previous contests, but the majority of those matches were played on clay and hard-courts, at which Sánchez Vicario excelled.

[citation needed] On grass, Novotná had a decided advantage, as she defeated Sánchez Vicario in straight sets.

[16][17] However, Novotná won the Tour Championships after a victory in the final over Mary Pierce and finished the year ranked a career-high world No.

[18] In addition to winning the Tour Championships, Novotná captured three more WTA singles titles for the year.

After defeating Venus Williams in a close quarterfinal, Novotná avenged the previous year's loss by ousting Martina Hingis in the semifinal in straight sets.

[21][22] She became the oldest first-time Grand Slam singles winner in the Open Era at age 29 years and nine months.

[26] She won titles on all four surfaces and crossed the $10 million mark in career prize money in 1998, the fifth player to reach the milestone.

She bought a house and property in the village of Omice, near her hometown of Brno, where she lived with her partner, former Polish tennis player Iwona Kuczyńska.