Iva Jovic

Iva Jovic is the youngest woman in the upper reaches of the WTA, an 18-year-old right-hander from Torrance, California. She was born to Serbian parents — Bojan from Leskovac and Jelena from Split, Croatia — and has an older sister, Mia, who plays at UCLA. She started at five and won the U14 Orange Bowl in December 2021. She turned pro out of a heavy junior résumé: a best combined junior ranking of No. 2 in September 2024, and two junior major doubles titles, at the 2024 Australian Open and Wimbledon.

The game is built for the modern baseline exchange — clean, flat ball-striking off both wings, with the maturity to redirect pace and control tempo rather than just out-hit. The serve is a developing weapon (around 64% first-serve-in, two-plus aces a match), but the return is where she pressures: she takes the ball early and turns rallies neutral fast. The composure is the headline trait — she saved a match point in the Guadalajara quarterfinal and won three of her five matches there in three sets.

That Guadalajara week was the launch. At 17, she became the youngest tour-level champion of 2025 and the youngest American to win a title since Coco Gauff in 2021, a run that lifted her 37 places to No. 36. Her major arrival came at the Australian Open: she beat world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini for her first top-10 win, dropped one game to Yulia Putintseva in 53 minutes, and became the youngest American in an AO quarterfinal since Venus Williams in 1998.

The clay swing extended the climb. Seeded 17th at the French Open, she beat Alexandra Eala and Emma Navarro in straight sets before running into Naomi Osaka. She peaked at No. 16 in March 2026 and now sits at No. 19 — a top-20 teenager whose ceiling, by most accounts inside the sport, hasn't been tested yet.