Special from
Zoo Tennis
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SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Sixteen-year-old Iva Jovic and 15-year-old Jack Kennedy are looking forward to competing at Roland Garros and Wimbledon for the first time in their careers after capturing the titles Saturday at the International Tennis Federation J300 North American Closed.
Girls Singles Champion Iva Jovic
© Zoo Tennis
Top seed Jovic's path to the title was uncomplicated, dropping just six games in her four matches, with wild card Elizabeth Ionescu retiring with a knee injury down 4-0 in Friday's semifinal. Jovic's opponent in the final, 14-year-old Kristina Penickova, had a much tougher road, emotionally and physically, beating twin sister Annika 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals and avenging two previous losses to No. 4 seed Aspen Schuman 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals.
The tone in Jovic's 6-3, 6-2 win over Penickova was set in the third game of the final, with Jovic breaking after 10 minutes and multiple deuces.
"That game definitely shifted the momentum to my side," said the Torrance, California resident, who won the Australian Open girls doubles title in January. "I took my chances, got a couple of good return winners off second serves, was brave in those moments. I knew she could play a lot of good tennis, she hits the ball super clean and is very aggressive, so I just had to kind of ride the wave and wait for it to drop down a little bit."
