ALL ENGLAND CLUB, London — As Iva Jović dismantled Tatjana Maria, the grass-court savant, to reach the Wimbledon third round, it would have been easy to wonder why the American looks like such a natural on a tennis court that is far from the norm in the U.S..
Jović didn’t play on grass at all growing up in Los Angeles, but the way she stays so low, and sends groundstrokes that thud across the turf and out of her opponents’ reach, has made her very much at home on a surface that can drive even the most accomplished players crazy.
Only 18, but ranked No. 16 and rising fast, Jović beat last year’s Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova on her way to the semifinals of Queen’s, a prestigious grass warm-up event, a few weeks ago. She thrashed Maria, the 2025 champion at Queen’s and a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2022, 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday.
Her secret? A youth spent playing soccer, for her local team in LA.
“It was so helpful,” Jović said during an interview at the All England Club.
“Oh my god, yeah. If it was my way, I would have every young player that’s going into tennis play soccer. Absolutely. It’s one of the closest crossovers, I think, from a footwork perspective.
“The mechanics of it, how you’re loading and unloading, how low you have to be, it’s a lot of small steps and it’s a lot a quick changes of direction, no matter what position you’re playing. Especially with the dribbling and the faking or trying to go around someone, it is very quick and that’s kind of like reacting on a return, for example.
“Goalie is probably unreal (for preparing a player for tennis). I was never in goal, I’ve always played on the wing.”
Jović was a left-winger, comfortable with both feet, whose game was about using her movement to find space and provide assists. “Nobody does training blocks on grass, but I move quite well on the grass and I really think that’s from playing soccer,” she said.
Jović’s soccer pedigree got her so far that she listed it as her favorite surface on the women’s tour website even before this year’s short season, which takes place in early summer. She had never won a tour-level match on it prior to 2026, but in 2025 she won five in a row to win a WTA 125 event, one rung below the main tour, and to qualify for that year’s Wimbledon.
Her overall record on the surface is now 13-2, which she’ll look to improve upon against Russia’s No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Friday
Jović switched her attention away from soccer to focus more on tennis when she was around 13. A combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the team she was playing for starting to play national and international matches, meant it had become too much of a commitment.
But she always has a soccer ball in her bag to have a kick-about with her coach.
“Even to this day, I would say the sport that I genuinely enjoy most just from a pure fun perspective is soccer,” she said.
The men’s World Cup this summer has provided a welcome distraction from the intensity of elite-level tennis, and Jović’s diverse background and support team means there have been plenty of countries to root for. Jović has been supporting the USMNT — though the 1 a.m. U.K. time kick-off for Thursday’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina was too late for her — and she has a British coach, a German physio and Brazilian hitting partner. Last month, Jović correctly predicted to Tennis Channel that Germany would exit the World Cup early.
World Cup picks are IN 🇺🇸⚽️👀 pic.twitter.com/w1EjHT6xJB
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 30, 2026
Jović has a Serbian father and Croatian mother. They are both pharmacy managers, and immigrated to America a few years before she was born, She also has family all over Europe.
“When your family comes from a war-torn country, everyone’s spread out, so wherever I go, I usually have someone,” she said.
Many players are similarly into soccer, and Jović joked at the idea that she should ask for her matches to be scheduled away from when World Cup games were on. During the 2024 event, Carlos Alcaraz was often preoccupied with how Spain were performing in the European Championship. The tennis locker room has always been filled with good soccer players — Rafael Nadal, whose uncle Miguel Ángel was a legendary player for Barcelona and Spain, was one of many considered potentially good enough before choosing tennis instead.
Jović’s fellow American Coco Gauff is another decent player — her impressive skills were captured by backstage cameras ahead of the 2023 U.S. Open — and she said in a news conference Wednesday that she was “really proud” of the USMNT at the World Cup.
“I do know our women are really good. I’m not going to lie, I’m biased, I do tune into them a little bit more,” she said.
She may find the movement natural on grass, but Jović has made tweaks to her game to improve even further on the surface, including beefing up her serve and adjusting her hydration and nutrition plans. After qualifying, she struggled in the heat at least year’s Wimbledon, losing in the first round to Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands.
For that aspect of things, Jović turned to her sometime mentor and seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, “a guru” as she put it when it comes to such matters. They communicate in Serbian, and while she joked that she should be getting grass-court pearls of wisdom from the 39-year-old, Jović didn’t look like she needed many against Maria. She dealt with Maria’s low slices, which have confounded top stars across the WTA Tour, and played with a controlled aggressiveness that her opponent couldn’t handle.
Jessica Pegula, another American who finds her footing on the grass, has no doubts that Jović’s game suits it. “I think especially now, because the grass isn’t overwhelmingly fast,” Pegula, who reached the Berlin Tennis Open final ahead of Wimbledon, said in a news conference Monday.
“She absorbs pace really well, changes direction of the ball really well. I think it helps her serve, which is something I think probably over the years will get a lot better.
“She still has a pretty good serve, especially for her size (five feet, eight inches). She kind of hits like a hard slice serve, and I think that’s really efficient on grass.”
Pegula was also impressed by Jović’s hard-court form at this year’s Australian Open, where Jović reached the quarterfinals before falling to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
“She means business every time she steps out. I think that is something super rare. You don’t always see that in someone so young.
“I remember watching her there, and I was, like, ‘This girl is going to be really good.’ You can sense it. I think you kind of know when you see someone playing. I feel like she had a great year last year, and has kind asserted herself as for sure a top-20 player.
“I think she can go even higher. She’s gotten so much stronger physically and super fit and competes like an animal. I really respect that aspect of her. She doesn’t seem to be fazed by whoever she’s facing, which I think is something rare. I think she’s going to have an amazing career.”
Other admirers include the two-time U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin, who has known Jović since she was a junior. “She’s always been very consistent,” Austin said in a phone interview last year. “An incredible competitor. Very accurate. Iva is going to have a great career.
“Probably her backhand (is what stands out) and she moves well. Great depth, consistency, it’s tough to beat her. Tough to hit through her now.”
Jović has been told that she should be able to get a ticket for LA’s World Cup quarterfinal, which will be played at SoFi Stadium later this month. The USMNT’s bracket has them in that slot if they progress. but Jović may have a diary clash — the match would take place on the same weekend as the Wimbledon final.
If Jović can go all the way at the All England Club, then the sport that has helped her get there would once again have to take a backseat.
“Hopefully I don’t make the game,” she said.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Soccer, Women’s Soccer, FIFA Men’s World Cup, Tennis, Women’s Tennis
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
