Australian Open: Teenager Jovic turns heads with imperious performance

Three teenagers stepped on the courts on the women’s side at the Australian Open on Sunday, but only one came out unscathed. Big-hitting 18-year-old American Iva Jovic booked a quarter-final encounter with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka after ripping apart the vastly more experienced Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 dominant minutes.

The two others – 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia and 19-year-old Victoria Mboko of Canada – fell by the wayside, with the latter earning big praise from her conqueror Sabalenka.

"What an incredible player for such a young age," said Sabalenka of the 17th-seeded Mboko. "She pushed me really hard today and played incredible tennis."

But the day belonged to Jovic, who had earlier knocked out two-time Grand Slam finalist and seventh seed Jasmine Paolini in round three for the biggest scalp of her career.

"I don't really feel like there is a lot of house money or underdog mentality that I'm feeling," said 29th seed Jovic, on her second visit to Melbourne after making round two last year.

"Because I don't feel like I have been playing anything outside of my comfort zone or outside of my normal level.

"I have come from two other tournaments where I was playing every day and winning a lot of matches as well.

"So this week and the level that I'm showing right now doesn't really feel much different than that.

"So it's just another week that I'm winning more matches, which is nice to see."

Jovic, who this time last year was ranked 191, claimed her maiden title in 2025 at Guadalajara aged just 17 and started the year in sizzling form, making the semi-finals in Auckland and the final at Hobart.

Beating 31-year-old Putintseva gives her an 11-2 record so far this season, the most wins of any player.

Jovic has been getting some good advice from Novak Djokovic – the Serb sneaked through to the quarter-final without hitting a ball after Jakub Mensik pulled out injured – during the tournament. He said he's been happy to help an up-and-coming star with Serbian heritage.

Asked about facing Sabalenka next, Jovic said: "She's number one for a reason and had so much success at this tournament, but that's what I want.

"I said it last year, I hope to be able to play her this year because you definitely want to play the best and see how it goes."

Now she'll get the chance to do just that.