After a rapid rise up the rankings in 2025, Jovic was already tipped as a future star, but a Melbourne run that included straight-sets wins over Yulia Putintseva and seventh seed Jasmine Paolini confirmed that her ceiling is even higher than previously thought.
BRIGHT FUTURE: Jovic departs as youngest AO quarterfinalist in 19 years
“I hope to be in many quarterfinals, so I don’t think this win or loss is going to make or break my career,” Jovic said after her loss to world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
The American leaves Melbourne inside the top 20 for the first time, having already climbed 164 places since AO 2025.
Demon’s dominance
On the eve of the tournament, Australian former pro Wally Masur declared that “Demon’s got a shocking draw” when assessing the Australian No.1’s chances at AO 2026.
Indeed, Alex de Minaur was confronting the possibility of having to go through two-time US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe and newly-minted top-10 star Alexander Bublik, just to get to his projected quarterfinal position, where world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz would most likely lie in wait.
All three of those match-ups eventuated, and Alcaraz ended up outplaying the local star en route to his seventh Grand Slam title. But the manner in which De Minaur outplayed Tiafoe, then took apart Bublik, en route to the quarterfinals surprised everybody.
Against 29th Tiafoe, De Minaur was imperious, striking more aces and winners than the powerful American, as well as 12 less unforced errors, to win in straight sets. And against Bublik, he surrendered just six games to win in a rapid-fire 92 minutes, the second-quickest men’s match of the tournament.