"Maybe I’ve just narrowed down the sorrow": 18-year-old phenom Iva Jovic navigating WTA life and the mental toll of defeat

Iva Jovic heads into another US Open this year as a top 16 star and a Grand Slam breakthrough away from an expected run towards the top 10. The 18-year-old American from Torrance with Serbian heritage has often spoken about Novak Djokovic and what he has done for her and her mentality.

But Jovic is navigating not only the mental toll of defeat, being a huge star now and also being a teenager still navigating early adult life while being a professional sportswoman in a sport known to be lonely and arduous.

Jovic though has won a lot of fans though for her poise and being far beyond her years when it comes to how she presents herself on and off the court. But being just 18, she marvels at places like New York as she spoke before the tournament.

“Day, night, it’s always going,” she said as per Steve Tignor's Substack. “It’s a bit of a concrete jungle out there. It’s very metallic, very trendy, there’s a lot of electricity in the air.”

“Definitely my favorite thing about New York is Central Park. The nature, all the buildings around, it’s pretty peaceful.”

But while some might end up broken by the tour, Jovic relishes being able to travel the world and comes back to the tournament where she made her start both in junior and senior tennis.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything, I’m able to do what I’ve always wanted to do, what I’ve always dreamed about.”

“I have really good memories from here,” Jovic says. “It was my first big junior tournament, and my first big professional tournament. It’s like my birth in tennis you could say.”

Another highlight of her first full year on tour has been making friends with fellow pros in what is a bit of a break from the norm. For most it is just their teams that they are friends with, but Jovic has made a point alongside a group of fellow rising stars to be friends on tour.

“I have more friends on the tour, which is good. When you start out, you don’t really know anyone, it’s a little bit difficult to find your way.”

“This is the first year I’ve done the whole [WTA] schedule. You definitely have to let go of your home life, and that’s something I’ve had to get used to.”

But while she has navigated her first year or so well, Jovic will be under no illusion that she needs to reach the next level and still learning is a big thing.

“I think I’m on a good path, I think there are things in my game that need to get a little better. I need the consistency. I can have good matches and good weeks, but I need to replicate that a little bit better.”

“I’ve been working a lot on serving bigger, and just being better on the first two shots of the point. If you want to crack into the Top 10, you need to beat the girls with the big serves, the big games. I think I just need to get better in the beginning parts of points. But it doesn’t happen overnight.”

“I’m still young, so I’m learning about that,” she says. “But as a younger player, I want to be able to make a positive impact, and carry those torches. I’m excited about the player council for the Grand Slams. There’s a long way to go for women’s sports in general. Our lives are flipped upside down for this sport, and we deserve to be properly paid for that. It’s something I hope I can help with in the future.”

But she also opened up about the toll of losing and how that has affected her mentally at times and how she now tries to narrow down the sorrow.

“I wish I could say I’ve learned, but it’s still tough,” she says with a laugh. “My rebound after losing is now one or two days, where it used to be two weeks. So maybe I’ve just narrowed down the sorrow. It’s always going to be tough, I’m someone who is very competitive and who hates losing. I think that’s going to be something I’m going to have to work toward my entire career.”

“I don’t think it’s the feeling of winning, it’s the feeling of competing,” she says. “It’s about putting yourself out there, playing in front of so many people, just feeling the nerves of being down, being up, playing well, playing bad. Also the constant work, of showing up, every day you’re trying to get better, you’re trying to improve yourself, it almost feels like a life mission. For me, competing is what makes me feel alive, win or lose. That’s why I want to play.”