Iva Jovic has continued her ascension at the Australian Open after comfortably defeating Priscilla Hon on Wednesday.
After defeating Katie Volynets in round one, Jovic wasted little time beating Australia’s Hon, securing a 6-1, 6-2 victory at the Rod Laver Arena.
The young American star enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2025 – winning her first WTA Tour title – and has continued to impress at the start of this year: reaching the final of the Hobart International and the third round in Melbourne.
Jovic, 18, has long been tipped as a future star of tennis; a player who could eventually rival Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff at the pinnacle of women’s tennis.
Following her first round victory, the young star was compared to a former Wimbledon finalist.
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Credit: Sofascore
Iva Jovic is compared to Agnieszka Radwańska
Speaking on the Nothing Major Show, Sam Querrey discussed the rapid ascension of Iva Jovic, noting the ferocity with which the American strikes the ball.
Querrey said: “Iva Jovic looks good. Iva, like you guys know her, she’s not that big right? Just physically compared to a lot of the girls in the top 10, but she packs a punch.”
“She hits the absolute c––– out of the ball and she looked great in her first-round match.”
John Isner, the former world number eight, added: “And she [Jovic] came into the tournament with a lot of confidence, obviously playing extremely well in the warm-up events and she also played a lot of tournaments at the end of the year.
“She played like a Challenger in November at the end of the year in Austin, Texas, if I’m not mistaken to make sure she got seeded at the Australian Open. So she’s coming into this with just so much confidence, she’s a lot of fun to watch.
“She’s one of those girls that like, she stays on the baseline and when she hits balls that come deep to her, she’ll hit it and she’ll do like a full squat and she’ll be this far from the ground.”
Querrey then interjected, comparing Jovic’s game to that of Agnieszka Radwańska: the former world number two and 2012 Wimbledon finalist.
Isner added: “Yes Radwanska! That’s the exact person she reminds me of.”
Who is Agnieszka Radwańska?
Agnieszka Radwańska is a Polish former world number two who first made headlines after defeating
Anastasia Myskina at a 2006 Tier II tournament in Warsaw.
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The Polish star, who won junior Wimbledon and French Open titles, received a wildcard for the 2006 Wimbledon Championships and became only the second Polish woman in tournament history to reach the round of 16.
Six years later, Radwanska enjoyed her best year on the WTA Tour, and her best performance at a Grand Slam event.
The Polish star defeated Heather Watson and Angelique Kerber on her way to the 2012 Wimbledon final, before losing to Serena Williams, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
Radwanska, who also made semi-finals at the Australian Open in 2014 and 2016, won the biggest title of her career at the 2015 WTA Finals.
Radwanska retired from her playing career on November 14, 2018.
