Iva Jovic celebrates her victory at the WTA 500 Guadalajara Open. Photo: ULISES RUIZ/AFP
The youngest American tennis player to win a WTA Tour title since Coco Gauff will compete in Auckland's ASB Classic in January.
Iva Jovic, 17, who won the WTA 500 Guadalajara Open in Mexico this week, has confirmed she will follow in Gauff's footsteps by competing in Auckland early in her career.
Gauff was 15 when she won her first WTA title in 2019, before debuting at the ASB Classic in January 2020. At 18, Gauff, who is now ranked third in the world, won the ASB Classic in 2023 and again in 2024.
Jovic has risen to a remarkable 36th in the world rankings after her Guadalajara victory and will continue the trend of emerging global talent to come to Auckland.
"We are naturally thrilled that Iva wants to play at the ASB Classic in Auckland," said ASB Classic tournament director Nicolas Lamperin. "The tournament has a history in featuring tomorrow's stars today.
"We pride ourselves that our care of players, the great atmosphere from fans and the acknowledged benefits in this great city of Auckland are all key factors.
"People like Coco have been rich in praise for Auckland, as the ideal starting point in their careers. We would like to think Iva is on a similar trajectory and fans here can witness up close one of tomorrow's potential world stars today."
Jovic is a California native, whose parents emigrated to the United States before she was born. Father Bojan is Serbian, while mother Jelena is Croatian.
Jovic, who now lives in Los Angeles, won her first professional tournament on the ITF circuit in 2023.
She became the youngest American to win a women's main-draw match in her 2024 US Open debut and won her first round at the Australian Open this year, after winning USTA's wild card challenge. The American also won her first round at the French Open and qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon.
Jovic won her first WTA 125 tournament at the Ilkley Open in England earlier this year, before her first WTA 500 title in Guadalajara, beating Colombian Emiliana Arango 6-2 6-3 in the final.
Lamperin expects to finalise several key players in the coming few weeks.
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