American teenager talks about her rapid rise, her relationship with clay, adopting her family values, and her hopes for the future
Novak Djokovic described her as a player who “definitely has all the tools to be a future champion and a future number one.”
Coco Gauff said, “She's a very solid player and is definitely going to continue to do damage on tour.”
Jessica Pegula called her her “mini me”, noting how she takes the ball early, tries to return really hard and through the middle, and changes the direction of the ball really well with her backhand.
Iva Jovic has got the tennis tour talking and with good reason.
The 18-year-old American was ranked 157 in the world this time last year. Today, she is at a career-high No.18 and enjoying a 14-6 start to her 2026 season.
She stormed to a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open in January, becoming the youngest American woman to reach the last-eight stage at Melbourne Park since Venus Williams in 1998.
When she captured her first WTA trophy in Guadalajara last September, at just 17, she became the youngest titlist on the women’s tour since Coco Gauff won Parma in 2021.
Ambitious, confident, and seemingly wise beyond her years, Jovic says she finds her meteoric rise both “surprising and not surprising”.
“Obviously having great results and maybe some wins weren’t expected, but I also know how hard I’ve worked, and that good things tend to come when you put in the right work,” she told Arab News last month.
“So, surprised, but also not that surprised. I think it’s one thing to have a couple of those good results, but for me the most important thing is consistency. So I want to establish myself as a player who’s going deep every single week.”
Jovic won 11 of her first 14 matches of the year, reaching the semi-finals in Auckland, the final in Hobart, and the quarters at the Australian Open. She’s well aware of the fact she’s still, relatively, a rookie on tour, and is rapidly picking up things as she goes.
“I think there's like a maturity level. Obviously I'm young, but I think in certain ways I'm more mature than some of the people my age,” she told rolandgarros.com in a recent interview.
“So I'm able to look at the game more logically when I'm playing and try to just take the emotion out of it. Because when there's a lot of emotion, then you can't really think clearly. So yeah, I'm still learning. But just being aware of what's happening on the court. I try to ask myself a couple questions, get the brain involved a little bit. It's not just about the hitting. And usually that helps me figure things out.”
Jovic is the youngest player in the top 100, but her start in the sport wasn’t as straightforward as her transition to the pros.
She played several sports growing up, including swimming and football, alongside tennis, and it was Covid that gave her the nudge to focus on tennis, because it was the safer, non-contact discipline she could play, while practising social distancing.
“It wasn't until I was maybe 14, 15 that I started doing well in the national tournaments,” she reflects.
“And yeah, I just got addicted to the winning and the process. So that's why I decided to stick with tennis. But I think it was nice. It was a natural kind of just choosing tennis and not being forced into it.”
Jovic feels having that multi-sport background has been hugely beneficial for her, explaining how swimming helped with her muscular development and how football did wonders for her footwork on court.
“It translates really well to tennis. I would advise every young person getting into tennis to play soccer,” she added. “I do think it (playing multiple sports), maybe, set me back from like a technical tennis standpoint, but I think it's not a rush, you know, and it's better to do things that way than the opposite.”
Jovic was born in Torrance, California, to a Serbian father and Croatian mother. Her parents, Bojan and Jelena, are pharmacists and emigrated to the United States in the early 2000s, after her mother secured a green card through the lottery.
They made sure to teach Iva, and her sister Mia, the Serbian language and the family frequently go on trips to Belgrade and Leskovac, keeping them connected to their roots.
“I feel very blessed to have kind of the mixed heritage, and obviously the U.S. is a very mixed country in general,” said Jovic.
“My parents were like 25, 30 when they came to the U.S. So it was very important to them that me and my sister spoke the language. They would do little white lies when we were younger and tell us they didn't speak English because they really wanted us to learn Serbian.
“So my sister was in English learning classes at the beginning because our first language was Serbian, and it's nice to be able to communicate with the aunts and uncles and grandparents in Serbian because they don't really know a lot of English, and they would not be as funny, and it wouldn't make sense in English.
“I think that my parents’ story and how they immigrated and kind of didn't really have a lot, coming to such a big city – and Los Angeles is very expensive as well. So they worked really hard, and I think I knew that nothing was waiting for me, you know? I had to go and earn whatever life I wanted.”
Jovic made her Roland-Garros debut last year, earning her spot in the main draw by winning the USTA Wild Card Challenge.
She won her opener in Paris against Renata Zarazua before falling to Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina in round two.
Unlike many Americans who struggle to play on clay, Jovic feels good on the surface, on which she holds a healthy 17-6 win-loss record across all levels (she won a W100 on clay in 2025), and a 2-2 mark at tour-level.
Elena Rybakina & Iva Jovic / Roland-Garros 2025
“Originally, it was a bit foreign to me. A couple of years ago, I hadn't played on clay at all, didn't know how to slide,” said Jovic.
“But I worked really hard to get better on the clay. Last year, I did big training blocks. I mean, my preseason was mostly on clay as well. So I'm moving so much better on it, and I like to think that I have strengths in all of the surfaces. My results are pretty equal across all. So I don't think it's the average American that doesn't like to play on clay. I think it's a bit better for me.”
She added: “Paris is definitely special. The crowd is so energetic. And it's very small, but I like it. It's in a charming way, and you feel very close to the centre of the city and everything it has to offer. So Paris is special. Obviously, the clay is like no other clay on Earth. It's the best clay out there. So I'm really excited to go there soon.”
Jovic was seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in Melbourne earlier this year and she could potentially have a top-16 seeding when she heads to Roland-Garros this spring. She says she likes being seeded because she usually needs to play herself into form at tournaments, and this allows her to avoid bumping into some of the heavyweights in the opening rounds.
Her exploits at the Australian Open earned her a significant prize money – a sum she was in no hurry to spend on material things.
She acknowledges she isn’t too savvy when it comes to the financial side of her job but shared that, “I don't spend a lot. I don't do a ton. It's really not important to me almost. I just like to be around people that I love.
“It's not that important for me to have whatever nice things. But I think what's special is I'm in a position where I am comfortable and I've earned enough money to invest back into my career with good people around me and good equipment, which as a junior or if you don't come from a very wealthy family, you don't really have that. So I'm glad that I can do that for myself.”
Jovic is a goal-setter, and doesn’t shy away from aiming high.
“I think it's important to know what you're working towards, and I have some goals that are a little more tennis-specific and just areas in my game that I know need to improve, and then obviously some result goals, which I usually make quite ambitious, because I know that even if I don't reach them, but if that's what I'm shooting for, you're probably going to land in a pretty good place,” she explains.
Jovic is quite familiar with the group of American players at the top of the women’s game at the moment and recently appeared on the Player Box podcast, hosted by Pegula, Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk.
She frequently hits with Keys, since they’re both based in Orlando and feels she has blended well with her compatriots.
One American she’s keen to see back on tour is 23-time major winner Serena Williams, who has dropped hints that she might be returning to competitive tennis at some point in the near future.
“Oh my God, that would be amazing,” said Jovic of the prospect of Williams’ return.
“I don't know what her plans are, but I would love, personally, if she comes back. I haven't even seen her in person. She retired a bit before I got any of this, but I would have to refrain myself from seeing her around and asking for a picture because she's the ultimate idol, definitely.”
Another idol Jovic has long admired is Djokovic, who said in Australia he feels “emotionally connected” with the talented teen given their shared Serbian heritage.
He gave her advice during her run to the quarter-finals in Melbourne and they were spotted chatting on court last week at Indian Wells.
Her strategy so far has been to “keep listening to Novak” and it is one that is already paying dividends.
Time will tell if Djokovic’s predictions for Jovic’s future end up coming true but she’s already shown the qualities of a true star in the making.
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
