{"id":777132,"date":"2026-07-03T06:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T06:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/777132\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T06:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T06:59:13","slug":"iva-jovic-the-rising-american-tennis-star-with-world-cup-soccer-fever-at-wimbledon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/777132\/","title":{"rendered":"Iva Jovi\u0107, the rising American tennis star with World Cup soccer fever at Wimbledon"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALL ENGLAND CLUB, London \u2014 As Iva Jovi\u0107<\/a> dismantled Tatjana Maria<\/a>, the grass-court savant, to reach the Wimbledon third round, it would have been easy to wonder why the American looks like such a natural on a tennis court that is far from the norm in the U.S..<\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107 didn\u2019t play on grass at all growing up in Los Angeles, but the way she stays so low, and sends groundstrokes that thud across the turf and out of her opponents\u2019 reach, has made her very much at home on a surface that can drive even the most accomplished players crazy.<\/p>\n

Only 18, but ranked No. 16 and rising fast, Jovi\u0107 beat last year\u2019s Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova<\/a> on her way to the semifinals of Queen\u2019s, a prestigious grass warm-up event, a few weeks ago. She thrashed Maria, the 2025 champion at Queen\u2019s and a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2022, 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Her secret? A youth spent playing soccer, for her local team in LA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so helpful,\u201d Jovi\u0107 said during an interview at the All England Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my god, yeah. If it was my way, I would have every young player that\u2019s going into tennis play soccer. Absolutely. It\u2019s one of the closest crossovers, I think, from a footwork perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mechanics of it, how you\u2019re loading and unloading, how low you have to be, it\u2019s a lot of small steps and it\u2019s a lot a quick changes of direction, no matter what position you\u2019re playing. Especially with the dribbling and the faking or trying to go around someone, it is very quick and that\u2019s kind of like reacting on a return, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoalie is probably unreal (for preparing a player for tennis). I was never in goal, I\u2019ve always played on the wing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107 was a left-winger, comfortable with both feet, whose game was about using her movement to find space and provide assists. \u201cNobody does training blocks on grass, but I move quite well on the grass and I really think that\u2019s from playing soccer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107\u2019s soccer pedigree got her so far that she listed it as her favorite surface on the women\u2019s tour website even before this year\u2019s short season, which takes place in early summer. She had never won a tour-level match on it prior to 2026, but in 2025 she won five in a row to win a WTA 125 event, one rung below the main tour, and to qualify for that year\u2019s Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

Her overall record on the surface is now 13-2, which she\u2019ll look to improve upon against Russia\u2019s No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Friday<\/p>\n

Why are some players better on clay than grass?<\/p>\n

Tifo Sports<\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107 switched her attention away from soccer to focus more on tennis when she was around 13. A combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the team she was playing for starting to play national and international matches, meant it had become too much of a commitment.<\/p>\n

But she always has a soccer ball in her bag to have a kick-about with her coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven to this day, I would say the sport that I genuinely enjoy most just from a pure fun perspective is soccer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s World Cup this summer has provided a welcome distraction from the intensity of elite-level tennis, and Jovi\u0107\u2019s diverse background and support team means there have been plenty of countries to root for. Jovi\u0107 has been supporting the USMNT \u2014 though the 1 a.m. U.K. time kick-off for Thursday\u2019s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina was too late for her \u2014 and she has a British coach, a German physio and Brazilian hitting partner. Last month, Jovi\u0107 correctly predicted to Tennis Channel that Germany would exit the World Cup early.<\/p>\n

World Cup picks are IN \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u26bd\ufe0f\ud83d\udc40 pic.twitter.com\/w1EjHT6xJB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107 has a Serbian father and Croatian mother. They are both pharmacy managers, and immigrated to America a few years before she was born, She also has family all over Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen your family comes from a war-torn country, everyone\u2019s spread out, so wherever I go, I usually have someone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Many players are similarly into soccer, and Jovi\u0107 joked at the idea that she should ask for her matches to be scheduled away from when World Cup games were on. During the 2024 event, Carlos Alcaraz was often preoccupied with how Spain were performing in the European Championship. The tennis locker room has always been filled with good soccer players \u2014 Rafael Nadal, whose uncle Miguel \u00c1ngel was a legendary player for Barcelona and Spain, was one of many considered potentially good enough before choosing tennis instead.<\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107\u2019s fellow American Coco Gauff is another decent player \u2014 her impressive skills were captured by backstage cameras ahead of the 2023 U.S. Open \u2014 and she said in a news conference Wednesday that she was \u201creally proud\u201d of the USMNT at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do know our women are really good. I\u2019m not going to lie, I\u2019m biased, I do tune into them a little bit more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Iva<\/p>\n

\n Iva Jovi\u0107\u2019s controlled aggressiveness is perfect for the grass. (Andrew Matthews \/ PA via Sipa)<\/p>\n

She may find the movement natural on grass, but Jovi\u0107 has made tweaks to her game to improve even further on the surface, including beefing up her serve and adjusting her hydration and nutrition plans. After qualifying, she struggled in the heat at least year\u2019s Wimbledon, losing in the first round to Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

For that aspect of things, Jovi\u0107 turned to her sometime mentor and seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, \u201ca guru\u201d as she put it when it comes to such matters. They communicate in Serbian, and while she joked that she should be getting grass-court pearls of wisdom from the 39-year-old, Jovi\u0107 didn\u2019t look like she needed many against Maria. She dealt with Maria\u2019s low slices, which have confounded top stars across the WTA Tour, and played with a controlled aggressiveness that her opponent couldn\u2019t handle.<\/p>\n

Jessica Pegula, another American who finds her footing on the grass, has no doubts that Jovi\u0107\u2019s game suits it. \u201cI think especially now, because the grass isn\u2019t overwhelmingly fast,\u201d Pegula, who reached the Berlin Tennis Open final ahead of Wimbledon, said in a news conference Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe absorbs pace really well, changes direction of the ball really well. I think it helps her serve, which is something I think probably over the years will get a lot better.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe still has a pretty good serve, especially for her size (five feet, eight inches). She kind of hits like a hard slice serve, and I think that\u2019s really efficient on grass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pegula was also impressed by Jovi\u0107\u2019s hard-court form at this year\u2019s Australian Open, where Jovi\u0107 reached the quarterfinals before falling to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe means business every time she steps out. I think that is something super rare. You don\u2019t always see that in someone so young.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember watching her there, and I was, like, \u2018This girl is going to be really good.\u2019 You can sense it. I think you kind of know when you see someone playing. I feel like she had a great year last year, and has kind asserted herself as for sure a top-20 player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she can go even higher. She\u2019s gotten so much stronger physically and super fit and competes like an animal. I really respect that aspect of her. She doesn\u2019t seem to be fazed by whoever she\u2019s facing, which I think is something rare. I think she\u2019s going to have an amazing career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other admirers include the two-time U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin, who has known Jovi\u0107 since she was a junior. \u201cShe\u2019s always been very consistent,\u201d Austin said in a phone interview last year. \u201cAn incredible competitor. Very accurate. Iva is going to have a great career.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably her backhand (is what stands out) and she moves well. Great depth, consistency, it\u2019s tough to beat her. Tough to hit through her now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107 has been told that she should be able to get a ticket for LA\u2019s World Cup quarterfinal, which will be played at SoFi Stadium later this month. The USMNT\u2019s bracket has them in that slot if they progress. but Jovi\u0107 may have a diary clash \u2014 the match would take place on the same weekend as the Wimbledon final.<\/p>\n

If Jovi\u0107 can go all the way at the All England Club, then the sport that has helped her get there would once again have to take a backseat.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully I don\u2019t make the game,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n