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Iva Jovic, 16, won the Rancho Santa Fe Open on Oct. 6 after defeating Ena Shibahara. Photo by John Cocozza
Iva Jovic, 16, won the Rancho Santa Fe Open on Oct. 6 after defeating Ena Shibahara. Photo by John Cocozza
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Iva Jovic wins Rancho Santa Fe Open for biggest career title

RANCHO SANTA FE — Iva Jovic knows how to win, especially in San Diego. On Sunday, the 16-year-old from Torrance claimed her third major title in the area this year, defeating Ena Shibahara 6-3, 6-3 to capture the ITF World Tour W75 Rancho Santa Fe Open.

“San Diego has been good to me this year,” Jovic said after the match at the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club. “I guess it’s the homecourt advantage.”

The victory was Jovic’s 10th straight win, coming off her second professional title at the W35 Berkeley event last week. It also avenged her March loss to Shibahara in the W35 Spring, Texas, final.

Jovic, one of the top junior players in the world, has had an impressive year. In March, she won the ITF J300 junior tournament at the Barnes Tennis Center, followed by junior doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. In August, she returned to Barnes to win the USTA Billie Jean King 18s Nationals, earning a wildcard into the U.S. Open main draw.

“Finals are all about seeing how tough you are,” said her USTA National coach Tom Gutteridge. “It’s been a long two weeks for her, so naturally I’m sure she was a little bit tired. It just goes to show how much she has improved herself physically, so we’re just really pretty happy.”

Ena Shibahara, left, and Iva Jovic hold up their trophies after the Rancho Santa Fe Open on Sunday. Photo by John Cocozza
Ena Shibahara, left, and Iva Jovic hold up their trophies after the Rancho Santa Fe Open on Sunday. Photo by John Cocozza

Jovic, still an amateur, earned $7,344 for expenses and 75 ranking points with her win in the USTA Pro Circuit $60,000 event. Shibahara, who represents Japan, took home $3,882 and gained 49 ranking points. Earlier this year, Shibahara, a former UCLA All-American, shifted her focus to singles, saying it was “now or never” after reaching the top 4 in the world doubles rankings and winning a French Open mixed doubles title.

“Yeah, it’s been a process and a journey [this year] and I’m really happy that I went after my dream,” Shibahara said. “It didn’t go my way today, but there’s always lessons to be learned.”

Shibahara plans to head to Japan on Tuesday to compete in the WTA 250 event in Osaka and the WTA 500 in Tokyo. She reached her goal of breaking into the world’s top 200 after qualifying for the U.S. Open and winning a match there. “Now this week I’ll be in the top 150, so I’m just really happy and going to keep it going,” she said.

In the doubles final, the Russian pair of Maria Kononova and Maria Kozyreva, seeded No. 2, defeated the No. 3-seeded team of Haley Giavara and Rasheeda McAdoo, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Both teams had split sets in each of their previous six matches leading up to the final, with each winning three matches in super tiebreakers.

All four doubles finalists have college tennis backgrounds: Kononova played at the University of North Texas, Kozyreva at St. Mary’s College in Northern California, Giavara was the No. 1 at Cal-Berkeley and attended Serra High in San Diego, and McAdoo played at Georgia Tech.

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