Young Serb Bojana Jovanovski shows superb skill in Fed Cup against Slovakia

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Wilson Blade 9

Bojana JovanovskiThere’s always something good in something bad. Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic wasn’t able to play the Fed Cup tie against Slovakia and her replacement, 18-year-old Bojana Jovanovski, who had her first main draw appearance on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour earlier this year in Kuala Lumpur, turned out to have used the opportunity to the full to get some experience and exposure.

The world No.117 Jovanovski lost her first singles match against world No.23 Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-2, but as I have already mentioned, the match was much tougher for the Slovakian than the result suggests. On the second day of play, the Serbian rising star beat Slovakian world No.53 Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 7-6(4), after a lot of long games and saved break points.

We had known Jovanovski has what it takes to beat Rybarikova, but the score in the first set was better than any supporter of the Serbian team could have asked for. In addition, even though inexperienced, Jovanovski won four successive games after trailing 2-0 in the second set. In the end, the winner was decided in a tiebreak and Jovanovski pulled it off despite cramps and tiredness.

The winner of the tie will be decided after the doubles match, as Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova defeated Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic in the first match on Sunday and the teams are now tied at 2-2. Whoever wins the doubles match and this Fed Cup World Group Play-offs, I am glad that Bojana Jovanovski had an opportunity and courage to give her best and gain exposure in the tennis world. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

12 COMMENTS

  1. Oh well, Slovakia played better and that is that. I am really happy Bojana was, as you mentioned Marija, exposed to the atmosphere and pressures of tennis. She has a bright future!

    Dani played really well in doubles, however I wasn’t able to see JJ play in her singles against Dani…speaking of which: How did she play? Did anyone watch? I saw Bojana play, she was great!

    Congrats LuLinqua…btw, I would love to visit AUS, but not live in it forever…it’s waaaay too far away. I might be taking a university semester in Melbourn, that would be amazing–AUS OPEN!!

    But honestly, people living in Eastern Europe always think it is better over the sea (North America), but when they come they wanna leave! I’ve been exposed to many of those situations and I’m kinda one of the 😉

  2. Well done! Looking forward to more exciting matches from Bojana in the future. How do you pronounce her name?

  3. The name is pronounced BoYana — the “y” sound is like “to yell”…or the “J” in Jelena Jankovic. Jovanovski stands as is I presume! It is a very common name in Serbian.

    Hope it helped!

  4. Bb, JJ was ok. She gave her best, but Daniela was obviously better.

    Karunya, Bb answered your question, and he’s right, you should read it like Boyana Yovanovski.

  5. I was very impressed with this young lady especially in her match against Rybarikova. She saved 11 break points in the second set. Awesoome performance. She plays very well under pressure. I hope to see more of her on the Tour in the years to come. She has a very good service motion and a very good serve. She was also fearless in the face of her more experienced and higher ranked opponent. Even in her match against Daniella, even though she lost she kept fighting all the way to the end. Kudos to her.

  6. Yeah, the girl rocks! She’ll have a great future if she continues doing like this. Really loved her game: she was so focused, not showing emotions, hitting the ball hard and precise all the time. It’s great to see a young player who seems to have it: good serve and return, great forhand and backhand and mental stability. She needs to work on her movement and sometimes she’s slow at reaction after she serves, but I suppose that will come in time.

  7. I think, from everything I’ve read, that she was one of the stand-out players of the weekend. I look forward to seeing her play.

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