Rising American star Iva Jovic has just sealed the biggest win of her career after upsetting No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2 7-6 (3) in the Australian Open third round.
Jovic, who reached the Auckland semifinal and finished as runner-up in Hobart last week, right out the gate claimed back-to-back breaks for a 3-0 lead before serving out for the first set in the eighth game.
After dominating Paolini in the first set, Jovic showed some signs of tension when the moment came for her to close out the match – the American failed to serve out for the match at 5-4 and then for the second time at 6-5. However, the 18-year-old didn't panic a bit as she impressively won five consecutive points from 2-3 down in the tie-break to get the job done in two sets.
Jovic, who started the Australian Open enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 27 in the world, is now guaranteed to continue her ranking rise and break into the top-25. Also, the 18-year-old has been through to her first Grand Slam round-of-16 at the Australian Open, where she will play against Yulia Putintseva.
Jovic revealed her Novak Djokovic wish just before facing Paolini
Jovic, whose father is of Serbian descent, revealed at Melbourne Park that she used to look up to Djokovic and expressed her desire to meet and speak with the record 24-time Grand Slam champion.
"Yeah, I definitely had a bit of Monica Seles in there. She has similar backgrounds as well, so I would always look up to her. Novak Djokovic was a big one for me. So,it's pretty cool to be playing a tournament that he's playing in as well. So, hopefully I get more chances to speak with him when I know he's playing tomorrow, but yeah, that would be pretty cool," Jovic said.
