Jovic, Basavareddy lead American singles sweep on USTA Pro Circuit

Four USTA Pro Circuit events, four American singles champions. Iva Jovic, Nishesh Basavareddy, Lea Ma and Felix Corwin all claimed titles on Sunday, while the all-American doubles duo of Ayana Akli and Eryn Cayetano added another trophy for good measure.

The 16-year-old Jovic won the ITF World Tennis Tour W75 event in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., beating seeded opponents in the final three rounds. The unseeded champion, from nearby Torrance, Calif., lost the opening set of her campaign before rattling off the next 10 in a row in dominant fashion to win the biggest professional trophy of her young career.

The victory also put Jovic in second place in the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, just behind Hailey Baptiste, after its first official week. The Challenge runs through the week of Oct. 21, with an AO wild card awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned at a maximum of three tournaments during its four-week window.

Jovic won the Australian Open and Wimbledon junior singles titles this year and made her senior Grand Slam debut at the US Open, beating Magda Linette before taking a set off No. 29 seed Ekaterina Alexandra. The junior world No. 2 now owns three professional titles at the ITF level; she won a W35 in Berkeley, Calif., last week and extended her winning streak to 10 matches by claiming the title in Rancho Santa Fe. 

“We’ve just been working hard to develop my game and now things are clicking," Jovic said, as quoted in a USTA Southern California story. "We’ve been making good runs all year and so it’s nice to be winning titles and just being consistent all year.”

Kathy Rinaldi, USTA Player Development's Head of Women's Tennis, has spent time on court with Jovic during her recent winning run. The former Top 10 player was full of praise for the rising American talent.

Basavareddy won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Tiburon, Calif., making him the second American teenager to triumph at that level this season. (Learner Tien lifted Challenger trophies in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Las Vegas).

The 19-year-old Californian was competing in his fourth Challenger final, having lost to Tien in the Bloomfield Hills title match. He left no doubt on this occasion, cruising past compatriot Eliot Spizzirri, 6-1, 6-1. The Stanford star is bidding to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals this winter. He is currently 10th in the ATP Race To Jeddah, behind second-placed American Alex Michelsen and seventh-placed Tien. Eight players will compete at the 20-and-under event in Saudi Arabia.

Ma, a college star in her own right at Georgia, won the W35 in Redding, Calif., beating top seed and former Duke standout Maria Mateas, 6-3, 6-2, in the final. Corwin, who played his college ball at Minnesota, won the M15 in Ann Arbor, Mich., as the top seed with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 comeback against compatriot Alfredo Perez in the championship match.