Jovic Advances, Eleven US Men, Including All Three Qualifiers, Reach Australian Open Second Round; AO Junior Qualifying Begins; W35 in Palm Coast Sole USTA Pro Circuit Event This Week

Seventeen-year-old Iva Jovic had not played any warm-up events this year prior making use of her Australian Open wild card, but the ITF Junior No. 2 showed absolutely no signs of rust in her first round match Tuesday, beating 33-year-old Nuria Parrizas-Diaz of Spain 6-2, 6-1. The match was closer than the score would indicate, but Jovic, who lost in the first round of the Australian Open Junior Championships the last time she played in Melbourne, was in control throughout. She will face No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan next, after the 2022 Wimbledon champion breezed past ITF Junior No. 1 Emerson Jones of Australia 6-1, 6-1 in the first round.

American men continued their impressive results, with the two who lost Tuesday going out to compatriots. Over the three days of the first round the US men had 11-3 record.

All three qualifiers made it through the first round on Tuesday, with Learner Tien(USC) and Tristan Boyer(Stanford) getting their first slam victories by coming through in five-set battles with Argentinians. Mitchell Krueger won his first slam match outside of the United States, with the 31-year-old beating former UNC star Rinky Hijikata of Australia in straight sets.

The US women have had much less success, going 8-11, although all five seeds have made the second round. No. 8 seed Emma Navarro(Virginia) barely escaped the upset against fellow NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns(Texas) who led 5-3 in the third set before falling 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 in three hours and 20 minutes. Two other American NCAA champions advanced, Ben Shelton(Florida, 2022) in another all-US battle against Brandon Nakashima, and Marcos Giron(UCLA, 2014).

ATP Next Gen champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil, the 2023 US Open boys champion, continued his surge, with the 18-year-old qualifier defeating No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-6(5).

Only five Americans are on Wednesday's schedule, although that's just in singles, as the schedule is full of first round doubles matches.

Qualifying for the Australian Open Junior Championships begins Wednesday(tonight in the United States), with only one American making the trip who did not receive entry into the main draw: Jacob Lee. The 17-year-old from Georgia, with an ITF ranking of 355 when the acceptances were announced, was one out of qualifying at the freeze, but did get in.  

The top seed in boys qualifying is Michele Mecarelli of Italy and
the top seed in girls qualifying is Ada Kumru of Turkey.

The finals are set for Wednesday at the AO junior warmnup, the ITF J300 in Traralgon Australia, with an American champion guaranteed in boys doubles. Top seeds Jagger Leach and Great Britain's Oliver Bonding will face No. 2 seeds Maxwell Exsted and Czech Republic's Jan Kumstat after both teams won two matches Tuesday. The tenth-seeded Exsted lost 7-5, 7-5 in his singles semifinal to unseeded Egor Pleshivtsev of Russia, who will face No. 8 seed Henry Bernet of Switzerland for the title. Top seed Jeline Vandromme of Belgium will play Ksenia Efremova of France in the girls singles championship match.

Kristina and Annika Penickova are through to the girls doubles final, where the No. 3 seeds will play unseeded Teodora Kostovic of Serbia and Anamaria Federica Oana of Romania.

With all eyes on Australia (and Costa Rica's Coffee Bowl, at least for me) this week, it's not too surprising that the USTA Pro Circuit features just one tournament: a W35 in Palm Harbor Florida. Qualifying concluded today, with three Americans advancing to the main draw: 18-year-old NC State recruit Tori Osuigwe, 2015 NCAA singles champion Jamie Loeb(UNC) and 2021 NCAA doubles champion Makenna Jones(UNC).

Wild cards were awarded to Malaika Rapolu(Texas), UCLA freshman Kate Fakih, USTA 18s Winter Nationals champion Chukwumelije Clarke and 32-year-old Christina McHale, who had retired in 2022, but has been back competing in USTA events since last November.

Marie Benoit of Belgium is the top seed, with No. 3 seed Sophie Chang the top American. Texas A&M senior Mary Stoiana is in the main draw and won her first round match today against Eva Vedder of the Netherlands 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2.