NEW YORK — Iva Jovic, a 16-year-old from California, eliminated 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette of Poland 6-4, 6-3 on Monday.
“Surprised, but not surprised,” Jovic said of the result against someone who has been ranked in the top 20.
“I had a plan about what I was going to do before I started and there was no need to make many adjustments because everything was going well,” Jovic said. “So I stuck to that.”
Four years ago, American Katrina Scott was 16 when she won a match at the US Open. Last year, it was Russian Mirra Andreeva who did the same.
One indication of Jovic's youth is that he still plans to participate in the junior tournament later in the tournament. Another: Jovic is still studying and taking online courses through a program he described as “convenient and… very forgiving.”
Jovic grew up playing several sports, including soccer, gymnastics and swimming, but gravitated toward tennis, which she began learning alongside her older sister on the courts built high up in the apartment complex in Torrance, California, where they lived.
“I want to be the best I can be,” Jovic said. “Just get better every day, honestly. Just keep working. I'm on the right path, but there's still a lot to do.”
At the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, Jovic earned a wild card into the main draw by winning the U.S. Tennis Association's 18-and-under national championship. There, she also teamed with Tyra Grant to take the doubles title, giving them a wild card into the women's doubles at Flushing Meadows; the USTA also granted Jovic and another American teenager, Kaylan Bigun, a spot in the mixed doubles field.
Jovic and Grant teamed up to win junior doubles titles at the Australian Open in January and Wimbledon in July; they were also runners-up at the French Open in June.
Jovic's favorite players are 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic (he is Serbian, as are his roots; after the English portion of his news conference concluded Monday, he answered questions in Serbian) and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic.
Because?
“Djokovic, do I need to say this? We all know how great he is,” Jovic replied. “And then Belinda, she takes the ball very early and her footwork is very precise, so she makes her opponents feel a little bit suffocated. That's what I would like to try to do.”
Jovic would love the chance to have a conversation with Djokovic, but their only interaction so far was when she asked him if he would mind posing for a photo.
“I have a selfie,” he said with a smile. “It doesn't look very good, but it's there.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
