US Open 16-year-old sensation pockets £106,000 payday before making Novak Djokovic admission
The US Open may have just unearthed another teenage gem after 16-year-old Iva Jovic pulled off a stunning victory over 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist Magda Linette on Monday.
Jovic received a wildcard to compete in the main draw of the 2024 US Open after winning the USTA Girls’ 18s national championship.
At just 16 years of age, Jovic is the youngest player in the women’s draw and faced a tricky first-round match against Linette.
However, the teenage sensation dropped just seven games as she romped to a straight-sets victory over the Polish tennis star.
She’s the youngest American to win a women’s singles draw match at the US Open since 2020 when Katrina Scott defeated Natalia Vikhlyantseva.
And progressing to the second round guarantees Jovic £104,000 ($140,000) in prize money.
That’s more than five times her total career prize money earnings having made her professional debut two years ago at the age of 14.
Jovic is already an accomplished junior athlete having won the doubles titles at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.
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She also made the semi-finals of the junior singles draw at Wimbledon where she lost to Australian Emerson Jones.
Jovic’s win will see her make a huge leap up the rankings as well to 285th in the world.
The teenager was born in California, but has family roots in Serbia with both her parents immigrants from the European country.
She admits that Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic is a big influence on her, but also named Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic as someone she also looks up to.
“Djokovic, I mean, do I need to say? We all know how great he is,” Jovic responded.
“And then Belinda, she just takes the ball so early and her footwork is very cutting the angle, so she just makes her opponents feel kind of suffocated. That’s what I would like to try to do.”
When asked whether she has managed to meet Djokovic, she replied: “Not really. I’ve been like, ‘Hey can I please have a picture?’ But not really.
“I do have a selfie. It doesn’t look great but it’s there.”
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Jovic now faces No 29 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova for a spot in the third round, where she could potentially meet world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
Jovic isn’t getting swept up in the moment either and is fully focused on where she thinks she needs to improve.
“I mean I think just from the ground, I move well and apply good pressure,” she said.
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“I’d like to improve the first strike elements, to be able to punch through opponents really quickly in points, because a lot of players are able to burn you right away if you’re not urgent enough. So just work on sharpening those things up.”
Jovic added: “I mean I just want to be the best that I can be.
“Just get better every day, honestly. Just keep working.
“I think I’m on a good path but there’s a lot more to do. Just keep working to get to my maximum.”