Iva Jovic reveals the three active WTA players she’s looked to model her game after

Iva Jovic has revealed that she’s been taking inspiration from some of her fellow WTA players to help develop her game.

Jovic is currently one of the most promising young players on the WTA Tour, and she has continued to build on that reputation in 2026.

Her standout result so far this season was reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, marking her best Grand Slam performance to date.

Jovic has often spoken about how much she admires Novak Djokovic, but after winning her first match of the clay-court season in Charleston, she mentioned three WTA players she’s also been studying closely.

Jessica Pegula, Belinda Bencic, and Bianca Andreescu have all played a part in Iva Jovic’s development

Iva Jovic started her Charleston Open campaign with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow American Alycia Parks. The result added to what has already been an encouraging season for the 18-year-old.

Speaking after the match, she spoke about the work she’s putting into rounding out her game. She mentioned Jessica Pegula, Belinda Bencic and Bianca Andreescu – three players whose baseline styles share similarities with hers – as players she often studies.

“I think that’s the trickiest balance,” responded Jovic. “Because I’m, and I think a lot of tennis players, we are very stubborn and I think we can be a bit extreme in our views, because we are just perfectionists.

“Tennis is one of those sports where it is physically impossible to be perfect and to not miss, so you have to stay with your identity. I have to identify ‘Who am I as a player and what is my game style?’ And then you just build around it, and I try to just emulate certain people.

“I think about players who have been extremely successful in this sport and what they have that I don’t have, so someone similar to you but maybe you don’t have all those little fine tunes that they have.

“So I look at Belinda Bencic, I look at Jess Pegula, Andreescu as well. I might play her, I know. The tennis she was playing, even now, but when she won the US Open was something that I look up to.”

Iva Jovic reflects on her ‘crazy’ rise up the WTA rankings

Jovic has climbed the rankings rapidly in just a year. This time last year, she was outside the top 140 and had only two Grand Slam wins to her name.

Now, she sits at a career-high of world number 16, and with few points to defend on clay and grass, there’s potential for even more progress in the coming months.

Although Jovic had shown promise as a junior, she admitted that even she hadn’t expected to reach this level so quickly.

But now that she’s here, Jovic is looking ahead with confidence and believes there is plenty of room for growth in her game.

“It’s crazy to be in the position that I’m in, because I don’t feel that I’m close to maximizing myself yet, but I realistically didn’t think that I would get here honestly,” said Jovic.

“You know, when I was younger I just wanted to play, I just dreamt about playing tennis and being good enough to be in the Slams, so this is already above what I expected for myself. Now that I’m here and I see how much room I have for improvement, I see that there’s a lot of opportunities ahead.”

Jovic may not be facing Andreescu next but still has a tough test ahead against another former Grand Slam champion, Sofia Kenin.

Sofia Kenin won the Australian Open back in 2020 but has struggled since then. She came into Charleston on an eight-match losing streak before finally breaking it with a win over Andreescu.

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