Iva Jovic has been a number of things to Alex Eala this year.
The American teen phenom was Eala’s doubles partner at the WTA ASB Classic last January in New Zealand, where they reached the semifinals, and at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells last March, where they were eliminated in the first round. She has also become one of Eala’s closest friends on the WTA Tour.
And Jovic has been a tough test that Eala has yet to figure out how to pass.
Eala will need to find a way to untangle the Jovic puzzle when the two young stars figure in a highly anticipated clash in the third round of the US Open on September 5.
The two first battled at the French Open last May, where Jovic triumphed on the famed red clay, 6-4, 6-2. Their second encounter came on grass at the HSBC Championships last June, with the youngest player ranked in the world’s top 20 prevailing anew, 6-2, 6-2.
Yet despite those two losses, Eala will enter their third meeting with a different perspective, having continued to grow through her breakthrough season and developed into a player capable of handling some of the biggest hitters in the women’s game.
The 14th-seeded Jovic and 17th-seeded Eala have both yet to drop a set at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The 18-year-old Jovic opened her US Open campaign with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over world No. 82 Magdalena Frech of Poland before following it up with a clinical 6-4, 6-4 win over world No. 104 Francesca Jones of Great Britain.
The 21-year-old Eala has been even more dominant, spending a total of just two hours and 23 minutes on court in her first two matches. She made short work of American qualifier and former US NCAA MVP Mary Stoiana, 6-1, 6-2, before blasting world No. 46 Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-4.
For Eala, however, the challenge goes beyond the fact that Jovic has beaten her twice this year. It is also about facing someone she knows well both on and off the court.
“It’s going to be a tough match,” Eala said.
“Sisterhood and just having friends on tour have helped me so much. Off the court and on the court, the friends that I have, I really admire what they’ve been through and what they go through.”
That friendship, though, will have to take a back seat once the match begins.
“She’s an amazing player, young, very talented, and very intelligent,” Eala said of Jovic.
“Of course, she’s a high-ranked player and very accomplished and encountered a fair share of challenges against her this year.”
Eala will not only be up against the brilliance of a teen prodigy who has shown none of the volatility often associated with young players. When she looks across the net at Jovic, she will also find a mirror image in terms of how they break down opponents.
Like Eala, Jovic does not try to do too much on the court, nor does she attempt to overwhelm opponents with a single major weapon.
Rather, she employs a variety of attacks and keeps her opponents moving until she finds an opening to exploit.
Also similar to Eala, Jovic takes the ball early and, using her solid fundamentals and balance, is able to absorb and redirect her opponent’s power.
The first two rounds showed Eala scoring winners by going down the line into the far right corner of her opponent’s side or utilizing her left-handed advantage with sharp cross-court angles that proved difficult for Stoiana and Oliynykova to retrieve.
Jovic, for her part, punished Frech and Jones by driving the ball firmly through the middle before skillfully changing direction with her versatile backhand.
In the two times Jovic has defeated Eala this year, she used her superior strength to seize control of the rallies and prevent the Filipina from setting up opportunities for a counterattack. On both occasions, Jovic forced Eala onto the defensive and made her simply react to the tempo of the exchanges dictated by the American.
Eala has since gotten better at negating the booming serves and heavy groundstrokes of power hitters such as world No. 2 Elena Rybakina, whom she defeated last June at the Berlin Open, and former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, whom she downed at the Washington Open in August. Eala beat both multiple Grand Slam champions in straight sets.
That improvement gives Eala reason to believe she can finally solve the Jovic puzzle, although she knows there is no guarantee against a player who has already gotten the better of her twice this season.
“All I can do is give my best and do everything I can to win,” Eala said.
Jovic, meanwhile, is embracing the occasion and the fact that their third meeting comes on a much bigger stage.
“I’m super excited. The atmosphere is gonna be amazing,” Jovic said.
“She’s been playing some great tennis. It’s nice to be playing each other third round, deeper into the Slam. Hopefully we can all keep going on runs like this.”
The winner of the Eala-Jovic third-round showdown will advance to the fourth round against the winner of the match between fourth seed Coco Gauff of the United States and world No. 40 Cristina Bucsa of Spain.
