Iva Jovic, a 17-year-old native of Southern California, secured her first WTA Tour title at the Guadalajara Open Akron by finishing off Colombia’s Emiliana Arango 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday in Mexico.
Jovic received a favorable path at the WTA 500-level event, as she only faced one seeded player, the No. 8 seed. She capitalized on the opportunity, following three-set victories in the quarters and semis with a tidy 95-minute final.
Jovic saved 6 of 9 break points Sunday, converted 6 of 11 opportunities and won more than half her return points (31 of 54). Arango had four double faults and struggled on both serve and return.
SP Open
French 19-year-old Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah completed a dream run in Sao Paulo to clinch her first WTA Tour title, beating Indonesia’s Janice Tjen 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
Rakotomanga Rajaonah took down the eighth and fifth seeds in the previous two rounds before facing Tjen; both women made their first appearances in a tour-level final. Despite hitting five double faults without an ace, the Frenchwoman prevailed by saving 8 of 10 break points and converting 4 of 8 chances to break Tjen’s serve.
Tjen lost despite serving up three aces and winning 18 of 29 first-service points (62.1 per cent). She was far less effective on her second serve, winning just 5 of 21 (23.8 per cent).
-Field Level Media
