Sometimes, it’s about shooting your shot. Iva Jovic’s mother, Jelena, did it when she applied for an American green card through the lottery, and got it.
Iva’s coach, Kathy Rinaldi, did it too, when she walked up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2025.
“We were practising on the indoor courts at Wimbledon and he (Novak) just walked into a court close to us. His son was playing, and Kathy was like, ‘Let’s go up to him right now!’ I was like, ‘Kathy!'” Iva was quoted as saying by tennis.com.
Introductory greetings were exchanged. A more detailed conversation followed at the Australian Open in January 2026. The 24-time major winner told Iva not to be hasty with her shots, and to hit more of them closer to the sidelines. She heeded the advice, and beat eighth seed Jasmine Paolini, her first win over a top-10 opponent.
A student-mentor relationship has since developed between the 18-year-old and the 39-year-old, both competing in the US Open main draw starting Sunday. Iva, like Novak, has Serbian roots. Her mother, Jelena, is from Croatia, but her father, Bojan, is Serbian, and Serbian is a staple language at home.
“For my parents, it was really important to them that I spoke Serbian, so that I could speak with my grandparents, my aunts and uncles,” Iva said last year, in a Cincinnati Open interview. “I’m super grateful that I have that, because now at these international events, it’s another group of people that I can communicate with,” she added.
Novak, perhaps, is foremost on that list. That her idol turned out to be “even kinder and even more attentive outside the cameras than what he’s portrayed” has likely strengthened the bond. The California-born teenager’s main aim is to absorb Djokovic’s growth mindset on tour. She hopes to hold onto the same “open-minded mentality” that helped Novak develop into a completely different player from the one he was at the start of his career.
Iva elaborated during her third-round run at the French Open, three months ago: “To be able to improve that much when you’re playing every week is incredible. Not being stubborn in your ways, making changes, making improvements, is very important.”
Change and growth have been constants since her Grand Slam main draw debut in New York in 2024. Just 16 and ranked No. 389 at the time, Iva made an impact right away. The wildcard entrant upset Magda Linette in the first round, becoming the youngest American to win a US Open women’s singles main draw match since 2000.
A breakthrough WTA 500 title in Guadalajara, a final at the Hobart International, and an Australian Open quarter-final run followed. Iva is now the top-ranked under-19 player on the circuit, at 14th overall.
Novak feels Iva “definitely has all the tools to be a future champion and a future number one.” Her compatriot Coco Gauff believes Iva will continue “to do damage” on tour, while the more experienced Jessica Pegula calls her a “mini me.” Hitting the ball early, packing power into her returns, and opening up the court with her backhand are the traits Pegula likes most.
Even when world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka beat Iva 6-3, 6-0 in the Melbourne Park quarter-finals, she had words of praise for her. “In the second set I felt like I have to step in and put even more pressure on her, because I can see that she’s young, she’s hungry, and I could tell during the match that no matter what’s the score, she’s still going to be there trying and trying to figure her way,” Sabalenka said.
The youngster’s road hasn’t been without bumps. Early hard-court successes were followed by below-par showings on the same surface through North America, second-round exits in Toronto and Cincinnati, heading into Flushing Meadows. But Iva can take heart from a relatively kind draw, opening against Poland’s world No. 47 Magdalena Frech.
There’s the possibility of a delightful third-round meeting with good friend Alexandra Eala. The American-Filipino pair faced off at the Stars of the Open exhibition event, and invited their fathers onto the court for a warm, reel-worthy moment.
That warmth might fade in four-odd days, if the two rising stars meet again. For Alexandra, there’s a huge fanbase to please. For Iva, there’s a third straight head-to-head win to claim.
Number plate
16: Iva Jovic’s age when she beat Magda Linette on her Grand Slam debut; she was the youngest American to win a US Open women’s main draw match since 2000.
4: The number of matches Iva won without dropping a set at the 2026 Australian Open; she was the youngest player, at 18, to achieve the feat since Venus Williams in 1998.