Left on the Cutting Room Floor in King Richard, 14-Year-Old Iva Jovic Keeps Winning at San Diego J1; Defending Champion Quinn Bounces Back to Reach Third Round

©Colette Lewis 2022--

San Diego CA

A champion on the ITF Junior Circuit for the first time last week at the Grade 4 in Las Vegas, 14-year-old Iva Jovic has continued to thrive when stepping up to one of the highest levels of junior tennis at this week's ITF Grade 1 in San Diego, her first tournament at that level. The Torrance California native defeated Meera Jesudason 6-1, 6-2 in this morning's second round action at the Barnes Tennis Center to extend her winning streak to eight matches.

"The match went well," said Jovic, who admitted feeling a little fatigued with just one day between the final in Las Vegas and her first round match Monday here. "I was aggressive, winning a lot of points, so it wasn't really super close in any of the games. It was kind of smooth throughout, which is what you want. Overall it was a good match."

Jovic went from 742 to 439 in the junior rankings with her title in Las Vegas, and with the 60 points already earned here, the same number she received for her J4 title, she will continue her rapid ascent in the rankings.

"It's exciting," said Jovic, who works with Peter Smith at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills. "I don't know the exact points, but I know it's worth a lot more. Every match means something when the tournament's this level, so you just try as hard as you can every match. And so far it's worked."

Jovic didn't have quite as much success in her debut as an extra in King Richard, the Academy-award nominated film centered on the Williams family's early years in tennis.

Recruited by well-known Torrance coach Courtney Hance to audition for spots as extras at her local club, Iva and her older sister Mia were selected and then asked to read for speaking parts. Although they both made the credits as part of the cast , Iva's scene didn't make the final cut.

"I was one of those players in the background that was playing in the junior tournaments," Jovic said of her role. "In the acting part, I was a girl playing against Venus when she was younger, I think it was sectionals. I was really upset because I was losing, and I'm getting super mad at my mom, saying like, 'I tried, don't be mad at me.' I'm just being a big brat, that's what it is. But it just didn't make the movie. It was disappointing, but that's how it goes."

Unable to see herself in any scene, Jovic did have the consolation of getting a glimpse of her sister.

"I could pick her out in the movie, she had a couple of seconds," Jovic said. "So that was cool. But she was also like 'I'm so bad,' but still, to be included was good."

After that experience, Jovic now has an appreciation for what is necessary to produce a major motion picture, much like what goes into the development of a world class tennis player.

"It's a huge amount of time, energy and money that goes into making a movie," Jovic said. "I was filming one scene and it took like an hour probably. It was crazy the amount of effort by everyone, the producers, everyone, to make just one tiny scene. You never know until you're there how long that really takes."

Jovic will face No. 3 seed Qavia Lopez in the third round on Thursday, and is looking forward to having Wednesday off after all the tennis she has played the past ten days.

"I'll probably just practice a little bit, watch some matches, chill, rest, nothing too special."

Two seeds lost today among the six seeds who were in action, with Maya Joint defeating No. 12 seed Reese Carter of Canada 7-5, 6-2 and Mayu Crossley of Japan beating No. 11 seed Gabriella Broadfoot of South Africa 6-4, 6-3.

Two boys seeds also lost today, with Brayden Michna defeating No. 9 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil 6-3, 7-5 and wild card Bryce Nakashima, Brandon's young brother, defeating No. 14 seed Rei Sakamoto 6-0, 6-4. Nakashima snapped Sakamoto's 19-match winning streak, with the 15-year-old from Japan winning three straight ITF Junior Circuit events in Mexico since February, including two Grade 3s.

Top seed and defending champion Ethan Quinn struggled in the first set against Alexander Aney, but took the last 12 games of the match in a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory. Quinn made an uncharacteristic number of errors in the first set, while the 17-year-old Aney, who will be joining Cal this fall, was aggressive and precise. But Quinn found his form early in the second set, and Aney could not counter the Quinn forehand once he got it going. Quinn will face qualifier Jordan Reznik in Thursday's third round.

Quinn and Nicholas Godsick had a much tougher finish to their first round doubles match, with the No. 1 seeds squeezing past Sakamoto and Anargha Ganguly of India 6-0, 7-6(3). No. 5 seeds Aayush Bhat and Fonseca were not as fortunate, losing to Nikita Filin and Cooper Woestendick 6-3, 6-7(7), 10-7.  No. 8 seeds Zane Ford and Jelani Sarr lost to Luciano Alcocer of Mexico and Stefan Regalia 6-4, 1-6, 13-11.

Girls top seeds Liv Hovde and Lopez defeated Erica Jessel and Esther Vyrlan 6-4, 6-3. The two seeded teams who fell in today's first round were No. 8 seeds Sage Loudon and Daniella Ben-Abraham, who lost to Lara Smejkal and Sophie Williams 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 and No. 7 seeds Maya Iyengar and Denmark's Natacha Schou, who were beaten by Katie Codd and Maddy Zampardo 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.