AUSTRALIAN OPEN – The women’s singles at this year’s Australian Open has only the second victim from the TOP 10 ranking, and this time a teenager took care of the elimination of such a high-ranking player. In the third round, Iva Jovicová (18) defeated world number eight Jasmine Paoliniová 6:2, 7:6 and followed yesterday’s sensational victory of Nikola Bartůňková (19) over Belinda Bencicová.
Jovicová – Paoliniová 6:2, 7:6
While Thursday’s victory of Bartůňková over this year’s undefeated world number 10 Bencic was an absolute sensation, Jovicová’s progress over Paolini is not such a big surprise. The American player is several steps further in her career than the Czech player.
Jovicová firmly established herself on the top circuit last year and currently occupies the 27th place in the rankings. Before the Australian Open, she played the semifinals in Auckland and the final in Hobart, and last year she dominated the 500 in Guadalajara, where she eliminated Bartůňková.
The former junior star is also selling her lifestyle at the Australian Open, where she outclassed Katie Volynetsová and Priscilla Honová and didn’t even allow the experienced Paolini a set. Jovicová was again very dominant and already led 6:2, 5:3.
At that moment, however, she became nervous and the Italian returned to the game when her much younger opponent failed to serve out the game twice. However, the two-time Grand Slam finalist extended her stay on the court by only a few minutes, as 3:7 was clearly not enough for Jovic in the tie-break.
Jovic was playing the third round at an adult Grand Slam for the first time and knocked off Paolini at the third attempt. This is her first career TOP 10 scalp, after which she once again improved her maximum at Big Four events. In addition, she took another important step in attacking the debut in the TOP 20 ranking.
In the round of 16, seeded Jovic will play the role of favorite against another experienced opponent, Julia Putintseva.
Australian Open Women’s Singles Results
