Jovic Kicks Off Billie Jean King Cup Qualifying vs Belgium Friday; Kennedy vs Hance in Boca Raton M15 Quarterfinals, Alvarez Beats No. 2 Seed Grant; Dostanic and Basavareddy Meet in Sarasota Challenger

Iva Jovic will make her Billie Jean King Cup debut tomorrow in the qualifying tie with Belgium, but the 18-year-old from Southern California is a veteran of ITF team competitions, having helped the USA win the Junior Billie Jean King Cup titles in 2022 and 2023.

Alanis Hamilton, Tyra Grant, Iva Jovic, Captain Tom Gutteridge (photo courtesy ITF)

Jovic was on the 2022 team as its youngest player and she didn't see much action, but she played No. 1 on the 2023 team and won every match in straight sets, with Tyra Grant, now representing Italy, and Alanis Hamilton the other team members.

Tomorrow Jovic, up to a WTA career-high of 16, will face Hanne Vandewinkel, currently 94 in the WTA rankings. McCartney Kessler(Florida) will play the second singles match against Elise Mertens, with Caty McNally and Nicole Melichar-Martinez expected to be the doubles team. 

Tennis Channel will provide coverage beginning at 10 a.m. EDT.

For the USTA's release from today, click here.

The Boca Raton M15 and M35 are still trying to get back on schedule due to all the rain this week, but one of the quarterfinals is set in the men's event, with No. 6 seed Jack Kennedy set to face good friend Keaton Hance. Kennedy and Hance, who won the 2024 Junior Davis Cup title and last year's US Open boys doubles championship, have played twice in the past year, with Kennedy winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the semifinals of the ITF J300 in Indian Wells last March and 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the M15 in Orlando last November.

Kennedy had the tougher second round match, beating Jerrid Gaines Jr. 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, while Hance beat qualifier Adam Lynch(Barry) 6-2, 6-4. 

Puerto Rico's Yannik Alvarez, playing in his first Pro Circuit tournament, defeated No. 2 seed Will Grant(Florida) 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals. He will play the winner of tonight's second round match between Benjamin Willwerth and No. 5 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee) of Romania. 

At the women's tournament in Boca Raton, No. 2 seed Mary Stoiana, No. 7 seed Akasha Urhobo and Madison Sieg(USC) have advanced to the quarterfinals, with Sieg facing Urhobo Friday.

The other side of the state has seen less impact from rain, with the quarterfinals set at both the W15 in Bonita Springs and ATP Challenger 75 in Sarasota(Bradenton). 

Seventeen-year-old wild card Carlota Moreno is through to the quarterfinals after beating No. 7 seed Ava Markham(Wisconsin) 7-5, 6-4; the Tennessee recruit will play unseeded Margaux Maquet of Belgium, who beat Georgia recruit Ava Rodriguez 6-1, 6-4.  Eighteen-year-old Bella Payne, who has signed with Georgia, defeated Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain, a Florida signee 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will face former North Carolina All-American Carson Tanguilig, who beat No. 4 seed Ana Grubor of Canada 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4.

No. 3 seed Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) and No. 6 seed Ellie Schoppe(Furman, Florida State) are the other two Americans in the quarterfinals and they will play each other on Friday, with the winner facing either top seed Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria or No. 5 seed Daria Egorova.

Three Americans are through to the quarterfinals at the Sarasota Challenger, with 2025 Kalamazoo 18s champion Darwin Blanch earning his spot today with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Duje Ajdukovic of Croatia. He will face No. 3 seed Hugo Dellien of Bolivia Friday.

The bottom quarterfinal will feature two recent former college stars, with No. 8 seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) taking on unseeded Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest), in what I believe is their first meeting. Basavareddy beat Hynek Barton of Czechia 6-1, 7-6(6) Wednesday and Dostanic defeated Alex Rybakov(TCU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Wednesday night.