INDIAN WELLS — When you’re a teenager, it’s not easy to see beyond the here and now, but Iva Jovic and her team are committed to playing the long game.
After the Californian played in all four Grand Slam main draws a year ago at the age of 17 and emphatically punctuated her 2025 season with a title at the Guadalajara 500, her coach stressed seeing the larger picture.
“It was great that she had this success,” said her coach, Tom Gutteridge. “What’s really important is that she stays in the moment and keeps developing and analyzing areas of her game that need to improve. We’re really trying to work toward a bigger goal and focus — and that’s not for another three to five years.”
Gutteridge, a 33-year-old Englishman, knows all about developing a well-planned, judicious approach. After all, it worked out nicely for him.
He began coaching at the bare age of 16 and, after developing CiCi Bellis and a large number of successful college players, found himself in charge of the United States Tennis Association’s best and brightest from the Class of 2007-08. Gutteridge trained and traveled with those four gifted 14-year-olds.
Four years later, still only 18, Jovic is a sparkling 14-5 in 2026 and ranked inside the Top 20 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. After reaching the semifinals in Auckland and the finals in Hobart, she opened eyes in Melbourne, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.
“Incredible player,” Sabalenka marveled afterward. “She played incredible tennis and pushed me to a one-step better level. It was a battle.”
Former professional and World Feed analyst Jill Craybas was among the many witnessing Jovic’s remarkably complete game for the first time.
“You don’t see anything technically that can go wrong in her game,” Craybas said. “She’s pretty solid all around. I also love the fact that she’s not afraid to come forward, especially for someone so young.
“The other thing that stood out is her competitive fire and the way she carries herself. For someone so young, she already has that good mental stability. She was fun to watch — I enjoyed it.”
Born and raised in Torrance, Calif., Jovic grew up playing primarily soccer and came to taking tennis seriously relatively late. She was 12 in 2020, the year COVID-19 hit, when she began putting in more hours at the USTA training facility in Carson, California.
Initially, her strokes were nothing special, but Gutteridge saw something beyond the technical stuff.
“Her pre-point routines and her focus and engagement were off the charts at a young age,” he said. “Same as what she is now. She played every point like it was set point or match point. She prepared in the way you see her prepare for points now. Just her engagement, her intensity — that was special.
“Just in big moments, the way she would step up and play the big points … I don’t think you can teach that.”
This early in the curve, Gutteridge explained, there are so many areas under construction: The serve-plus-one is a big area of focus, hitting spots, hitting targets, having more variation. One of her best abilities is re-directing the ball, somewhat in the manner of Jessica Pegula.
“That could not only continue to be a strength but become kind of a superpower,” Gutteridge explained. “Against any type of ball speed. So we’re looking to refine that. Then her all-court game, I would love to continue to improve her volleys, her intangibles, her slice and her drop shot.
“The challenge is that she’s now playing a full schedule. We’re trying to find those weeks and months to sort of develop her game on the practice court.”
It’s not easy. For a young player who has a high enough ranking to gain direct entry into the marquee tournaments, it can be terribly tempting to want to play all of them.
To that end, Team Jovic made a difficult decision. After her unexpectedly deep runs Down Under, they opted to pass on the Doha 1000. After four or five days off, they resumed training in Orlando, where Jovic maintains an apartment. From there, they flew to Dubai and put in another week of training before playing that 1000 event.
“It’s important for her to sort of reflect on what she’s done and not just chase the points, beat the people you’re supposed to beat,” Gutteridge said.
“Especially if you want a long career. It’s my job to keep that longevity and hunger and enjoyment for the sport. I don’t want to push her too soon. She’s still very young, still developing her body as well.”
Jovic is listed at 5-foot-8, but Gutteridge, citing her taller sister, thinks she’ll grow even taller. That, plus natural muscle development should gradually put even more pop on her already heavy shots. Among the primary offseason goals were improving physicality and fitness (by practicing a lot on clay) and creating more explosive movement mechanics.
The overarching goal is developing a familiarity for the sometimes daunting rigors of professional tennis. Yes, the long game is in serious play.
“Stay healthy and keep building on the success of last year,” Gutteridge said. “This year, it’s more can she get used to this week-in-and-week-out grind.
“That’s our biggest goal, for her to feel super confident and comfortable that she can handle the schedule and feel good.”
