Iva Jovic, the rising American player, recently shared her thoughts on World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, highlighting their mutual admiration and her profound respect for the elite star. The 18-year-old is all set to begin her campaign at the Madrid Open as the 15th seed, while elite player Pegula will enter the WTA 1000 tournament as the fifth seed following their Adidas campaign.
Iva Jovic Reflects on the Mutual Admiration She Shares With Jessica Pegula
Jovic is enjoying her first season as a top-20 player. She started by reaching the semifinal round in both the singles and doubles categories at the ASB Classic. At the Hobart International, she lost the title to Elisabetta Cocciaretto and reached the quarterfinal round at the Australian Open.
At the Dubai Tennis Championship, she made the round of 16, losing to the eventual champion, Pegula, and the same round at the ATX Open to Ajla Tomljanović. She exited the Indian Wells Open early with a round of 64 loss to Camila Osorio and fell short in the round of 32 at the Miami Open against Talia Gibson.
At the Charleston Open, the young American lost the semifinal to eventual champion Pegula, once again, and will now be seen in action at the Caja Mágica, also known as the Manzanares Park Tennis Center, in Madrid.
Jovic recently appeared on the Hall of Famer’s podcast, ‘Served with Andy Roddick,’ and revealed her admiration for fellow American Pegula, whom she considers her role model. Furthermore, she also revealed her joy at being acknowledged by Pegula and showed her respect beyond the competition.
She mentioned, “That has to feel pretty cool, especially coming from Jess because that is a player from my end that coaches would show me. And that I would try to model. So the fact that it’s reciprocated and she sees kind of the things that I’ve been trying to take from her is amazing.”
Jovic continued, “And she’s just a good person. Like she’s a nice person. When I see Jess in the locker room, I’m like, “‘Hey,’ you know. She’s just, she’s nice. We always have a good chat. So, I think that’s the best when someone’s, you know, amazing player, but you can also have a normal conversation with them, and it doesn’t have to be this whole enemy-enemy thing.”
READ MORE: Jessica Pegula Admits Iva Jovic’s Idolization Creates a ‘Weird Feeling’ at Age 32
The duo, who have sponsorship deals with the German athletic giant, Adidas, also starred in their new shoot donning blue athletic wear. In her Instagram post, Pegula shared glimpses and wrote in the caption, “Perfect Away Day fit #adidaszne #createdwithadidas.”
In her opening match at the Madrid Open, Jovic is set to clash against Polish star and former World No. 19 Magda Linette. Pegula, meanwhile, begins her run in the Round of 64 against either Taylor Townsend or Katie Boulter.
