Jovic Reaches W75 Rancho Santa Fe Final, Continues to Weigh Pro Decision; Basavareddy and Spizzirri Meet Sunday for Tiburon Title; All-US Final at Ann Arbor $15K; Johnson and Montoya Claim Corpus Christi ITF J60 Titles

Sixteen-year-old Iva Jovic faced a difficult decision last month: whether to claim her prize money at the US Open, which was more than $160,000 with her results in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The lawsuit North Carolina's Reese Brantmeier filed against the NCAA remains unresolved, so, as of now, Jovic would jeopardize her college eligibility if she accepted it.

Yet that limbo has not affected her performance at all, with a title last week at the W35 in Berkeley California and another stellar week at the W75 in Rancho Santa Fe California, where the unseeded Torrance California resident has advanced to the final. 

Jovic defeated No. 5 seed Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand 6-1, 7-5, saving two set points serving at 3-5 and taking the next three games to reach her second W75 final. Now 232 in the WTA live rankings, Jovic is getting close to Australian Open qualifying territory, but still is not convinced she ready to make a decision on her future, according to her conversation with Steve Pratt, the Rancho Santa Fe tournament press aide.

"I’m still not decided [about turning pro]. Just keeping my options open.”

 

Do you have a bar or ranking you might reach to make the decision? 

“Not really. I think I’ll just know when the time is right. There’s no urgency for me.

“I mean we’ve just been working hard to development my game and now things are clicking. We’ve been making good runs all year and so it’s nice to be winning titles and just being consistent all year.”

Kathy Rinaldi, the USTA's head of women's tennis, has been with Jovic the past two weeks and told Pratt that the pro decision is out of her purview.

"That’s a personal decision and between her and her family. She’s obviously having great results but she’s also a very bright girl and into her studies, too, and I’m sure they’ll make the right decision when the time comes.”

Rinaldi praised the progress Jovic has made since returning from injury last fall, which started with her title at the W35 in Redding exactly one year ago.

"She’s just such a hard worker and so aggressive and has just improved in so many aspects. She has such a great growth mindset and she’s improved her serve and her slice and coming forward. Just so tough. She just strikes the ball so well from both sides.”

Jovic will face No. 3 seed Ena Shibahara(UCLA) of Japan in the final, after Shibahara avenged her first round loss last week in Templeton to Katherine Sebov of Canada with a 6-1, 6-3 win today. Jovic and Shibahara played in the final of the W35 in Texas in February, with Shibahara taking it 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Jovic is planning to play next week's W75 in Edmond Oklahoma, but after that is returning to Orlando to train, with the W50 in Boca Raton and the Orange Bowl possibly her year-ending tournaments.

The doubles title in Rancho Santa Fe went to No. 3 seeds Haley Giavara(Cal) and Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech), beating top seed Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus and Carmen Corley(Oklahoma) 7-6(0), 5-7, 10-6 in the final. McAdoo, who won the Templeton W75 doubles title last week with Sophie Chang, will break into the WTA Top 200 in the doubles rankings for the first time. (CORRECTION: that match was a semifinal, not a final. No. 2 seeds Maria Kononova(North Texas) and Maria Kozyreva(St. Mary's) of Russia won the title, beating McAddo and Corley 6-2, 7-6(4) in Sunday's final).

Another player who will need to make a decision about college is Nishesh Basavareddy, the Stanford junior who is taking the fall off to compete in Challengers. The 19-year-old from Indiana, who reached the final in Charleston last week, has advanced to another one this week on the opposite coast, defeating Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) of Great Britain 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Challenger 75 in Tiburon California. Basavareddy, who despite playing in his fourth Challenger final tomorrow is unseeded, faces unseeded Eliot Spizzirri(Texas), who will be playing in his first Challenger final after defeating No. 2 seed Learner Tien(USC) 7-6(6), 6-7(3) 6-2 today.  The final is a rematch of the 2022 ITA National Fall Championships final, which Basavareddy won 6-1, 6-4.

Spizzirri and Patrick Kypson played in the evening's doubles final, with the unseeded pair falling to No. 2 seeds Tristan Schoolkate and Luke Saville of Australia 6-4, 6-2.

The final is set for the $15,000 USTA men's Pro Circuit tournament in Ann Arbor, with top seed Felix Corwin(Minnesota) facing unseeded Alfredo Perez(Florida) in an all-USA championship match. Corwin defeated Michigan senior Gavin Young 6-2, 6-4, while Perez beat No. 4 seed Aristolelis Thanos(Michigan State) of Greece 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. 

Top seeds Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) and Great Britain's Adam Jones won the doubles title, beating unseeded Martin Borisiouk(NC State) of Belarus and Ryan Dickerson(Duke, Baylor) 3-6, 6-2, 10-1.

It's been difficult to follow the W35 in Redding California, with its late evening matches, but one of the participants in Sunday's final has been decided. Unseeded Lea Ma defeated wild card Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina) 6-4, 7-5, with the 23-year-old former Geogia All-American advancing to her first Pro Circuit final. She will face the winner of tonight's match between top seed Maria Mateas(Duke) and Texas A&M sophomore Lucciana Perez of Peru in Sunday's final.

The ITF J60 in Corpus Christi Texas concluded today, with 15-year-old Andrew Johnson and 16-year-old Kori Montoya winning their first ITF Junior Circuit singles titles.  Montoya, the top seed, defeated unseeded 15-year-old Anjani Vickneswaran 6-1, 6-4 in the final. Johnson, the No. 9 seed, earned his title after winning the first set 6-2 over No. 13 seed Adrian Treacy, who then retired. 

In the boys doubles final, top seeds Anirudh Dhanwada and Mexico's Oswaldo Reyes Tirado defeated unseeded Mason Vaughan and Malhar Patel 7-5, 4-6, 10-7.  Unseeded Emerey Gross and Sara Shumate won the girls doubles title, beating No. 4 seeds Lyla Middleton and Jordyn Hazelitt 7-5, 6-3 in the final.