Joel Drucker, a preeminent tennis writer, has written an in-depth profile of Southern Californian Iva Jovic, one of the world's top juniors, with that story appearing today on the Tennis Recruiting Network. Drucker spent time with Iva and her family and attended a practice with coach Peter Smith, which provides insight into the daily routine of an ambitious junior who seeks to improve.
Drucker, an authoritative tennis historian, also puts Jovic into the context of Southern California tennis prodigies, what's changed and what's endured through the years, and how her neighborhood fits into that landscape.
But the part of the article that most resonates with me is his explanation of how juniors are evaluated by two separate groups with an interest in younger players, what he has christened the Speculators and the Social Workers, and how their concerns are, and should be, irrelevant to what Jovic is seeking when it comes to her tennis. Getting really good at something is not easy, but who would discourage someone from trying to be the best they can be? Drucker looks at all these questions, all the challenges that must be met and ends with this:
Along the way, though, Jovic will have learned something rare: what it means to throw one’s heart and soul into something. That kind of dedication is eminently transferrable. Decade after decade, I meet more and more adults who have never learned what Jovic has about passion, commitment, and engagement. From that vantage point, she’s already a champion.
The article will be free to all for the next week; after that it will be available only to Recruiting Advantage subscribers.
Jovic is the lone American to reach the semifinals of the
ITF J300 in Traralgon Australia, where she will face top seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain for a place in the final. Klugman, who beat Eddie Herr champion Wakana Sonobe of Japan 6-3, 7-6(6) in the quarterfinals Monday, defeated Jovic 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Orange Bowl last month. Jovic, the No. 4 seed, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over unseeded Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine. Max Exsted and Cooper Woestendick are through to the boys doubles semifinals.
The
Australian Open Junior Championships wild cards were
announced by Tennis Australia Monday in advance of Saturday's first round matches. Two of the eight wild cards in each draw go to winners of South American and Asian competitions to determine them. One surprise is a wild card for 14-year-old Ksenia Efremova of France, who qualified for Traralgon before losing to Jovic 6-1, 6-1 in the third round. I can't imagine Lily Taylor of Australia, No. 77 in the ITF junior rankings, understands the reasoning behind a main draw wild card for Efremova, who is 96 in the ITF junior rankings. Taylor received a qualifying wild card.
AO juniors main draw wild cards:
Boys:
Hugh Winter(AUS)
Ty Host(AUS)
Jermone Estephan(AUS)
Cruz Hewitt(AUS)
Rohan Hazratwala(AUS)
Daniel Jovanovski(AUS)[16s champion]
Diego Eduardo Munoz(BOL)
Ryo Tabata(JPN)
Girls:
Kimiko Cooper(AUS)
Giselle Guillen(AUS)[16s champion]
Tahlia Kokkinis(AUS)
Koharu Nishikawa(AUS)
Renee Alame(AUS)
Caroline Bohrer Martins(BRA)
Ksenia Efremova(FRA)
Riko Kikawada(JPN)
Only two of the seven US women in action Monday at the
Australian Open advanced to the second round: US Open champion Coco Gauff and wild card McCartney Kessler. Former Florida All-American Kessler, who won the USTA's wild card challenge last fall, defeated qualifier Fiona Ferro of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for her first win in a main draw of a major. I spoke to Kessler last fall about her first full year on tour in
this article for Tennis Recruiting Network, and I'm sure the prize money she's earned on this trip to Australia will diminish some of the financial pressures we spoke about in that interview. Former Illinois All-American Aleks Kovacevic, the only US men's qualifier, also picked up his first win at a major, beating ATP No. 49 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 6-7(2), 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Monday's first round results of Americans:
Coco Gauff[4] d. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova(SVK) 6-3, 6-0
Viktoriya Tomova(BUL) d. Kayla Day 6-4, 6-2
McCartney Kessler[WC] d. Fiona Ferro[Q](FRA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Paula Badosa(ESP) d. Taylor Townsend 6-1, 6-3
Mirra Andreeva(RUS) d. Bernarda Pera 7-5, 6-2
Marta Kostyuk(UKR) d. Claire Liu 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Anna Kalinskaya(RUS) d. Katie Volynets[Q] 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Ben Shelton[16] d. Roberto Bautista Agut(ESP) 6-2, 7-6(2), 7-5
Emil Ruusuvuori(FIN) d. Patrick Kypson[WC] 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4)
Christopher Eubanks d. Taro Daniel(JPN) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
Sebastian Korda[29] d. Vit Kopriva[Q](CZE) 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2
Aleks Kovacevic[Q] d. Alejandro Tabilo(CHI) 6-7(2), 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
Tuesday's first round matches featuring Americans:
Alex Michelsen v James McCabe[WC](AUS)
Tommy Paul[14] v Gregoire Barrere(FRA)
Marcos Giron v Jack Draper(GBR)
Mackenzie McDonald v Jerry Shang[WC](CHN)
Sofia Kenin v Iga Swiatek[1](POL)
Danielle Collins v Angelique Kerber(GER)
Emma Navarro[27] v Xiyu Wang(CHN)
Sloane Stephens v Olivia Gadecki[WC](AUS)
Peyton Stearns v Daria Kasatkina[14](RUS)
Ashlyn Krueger v Qinwen Zheng[12](CHN)
Shelby Rogers v Emma Raducanu(GBR)
Jessica Pegula[5] v Rebecca Marino[Q](CAN)
The
first of two ATP Challenger 50s in Indian Wells is underway, with qualifying set to finish today and five main draw matches on the schedule. Advancing to the main draw is Arizona State senior Maxwell McKennon, who beat Stanford freshman Nicholas Godsick 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in today's final round qualifying match between wild cards.
Main draw wild cards were given to Arizona State junior Murphy Cassone, No. 3 seed Brandon Holt(USC) and Ryan Seggerman(Princeton/UNC). Cassone will play Stanford sophomore Nishesh Basavareddy in a first round match between two of the top players in Division I tennis this year. Two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion Learner Tien will face a qualifier in his first match.
Thirty-one-year-old Federico Gaio of Italy is the top seed, with 33-year-old Marco Trungelliti of Argentina the No. 2 seed.
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