Iva Jovic leans on Novak Djokovic advice to script breakthrough Australian Open run

MELBOURNE: Iva Jovic, the youngest player in the WTA top 100, leaned on advice from her idol Novak Djokovic to knock out seventh seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 7-6 (3), advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Friday’s result put Jovic, the 29th seed, into the second week of a major for the first time.

Born in Torrance, California, to Serbian parents Bojan and Jelena, who hail from Leskovac and Split, Croatia, Jovic, a Los Angeles resident, revealed she spoke with the 24-time Grand Slam champion on Thursday.




“He gave me some tips for my game, something I could incorporate into this match,” Jovic said of the third-round match. “When Novak gives you advice, you follow it.”

“The advice was to open up the court a little bit better, to not rush into the shots all the time, find more width. I tried to do that, and it ended well. So I’m just going to try to keep listening to Novak.”

Jovic, who takes on world No. 94 Yulia Putintseva for a place in the quarterfinals, said meeting the Serbian superstar was pretty insane.

“You always think about those moments where you’re going to meet your idol,” she said. “Sometimes it can be a little bit deflating, where you kind of see that’s definitely not how it looks on TV. I think he’s almost even kinder and even more attentive outside the cameras.”

“It was amazing. He’s so intelligent and smart and really wants to help the younger generation,” the 18-year-old said.

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