Iva Jovic was unable to prevent Aryna Sabalenka from advancing to the Australian Open semi-finals on Thursday.
The impressive youngster, who has been backed by Novak Djokovic to become a future world number one, lost 6-3, 6-0 to the world number one.
Jovic will take great pride from her campaign in Australia. As the 29th seed, she defeated Jasmine Paolini on her way to the last eight, and has consequently established herself as one of the brightest young talents in the sport.
As for Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one performed superbly to defeat Jovic and will face Coco Gauff or Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals.
After losing to Sabalenka on Tuesday, Jovic described what she admires about Aryna Sabalenka and her journey to the top of the tennis tree.
Who has impressed you the most?
Iva Jovic says Aryna Sabalenka is ‘very inspiring’
“I don’t think it [the match] felt that different for me, honestly, because every match is really cool I think at this level,” Jovic told reporters during her post-match press conference.
“It’s really just a dream to even be here. Yeah, it’s the quarterfinals, but you know, ultimately I hope to be in many quarterfinals, right, so I don’t think that this win or loss today is going to make or break my career really.
“Yeah, it was a tough one, and I think Aryna played very well. I could have done some things differently, but that’s tennis.
“I think it’s amazing what she’s done for herself in her career. It’s very inspiring. I think the way she’s been able to use all the negative things — I know her story quite well, all the negative things that have happened to her on-court and in her personal life as well and turned them into motivation and fuel to be better is amazing.
“I hope to get more chances to play against her, and she was very nice at the end of the match, as well. Yeah, it’s good. Hopefully I can get some more chances to get her back.”
Jovic, who reached the second round in Melbourne 12 months ago, is set to rise seven places to world number 20 following her quarter-final appearance at the 2026 event.
Jovic has gained 360 WTA points and now finds herself on a total of 2,031 WTA points.
As for Sabalenka, she is one win away from matching her performance from the 2025 Australian Open. The Belarusian will hope she can go one step further this year and win the title for the third time.
Aryna Sabalenka’s impressive semi-final record
Aryna Sabalenka has been remarkably consistent at Grand Slam events over the past few years.
With victory against Jovic, the Belarusian has now made the semi-finals at 12 of her past 13 Grand Slam tournaments.
The only time Sabalenka did not reach the semi-finals was in 2024, when she lost to Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals while suffering with food poisoning.
Who has impressed you most so far at the Australian Open?
If Sabalenka were to win the 2026 Australian Open, she would gain an extra 800 WTA ranking points and solidify her status as the world’s best women’s singles player.
However, she will likely need to defeat one of Iga Swiatek or Elena Rybakina if she is to do so.
