Mira Andreeva, who will turn 19 at the end of April, already has 31 Grand Slam wins and is the youngest to ever reach the second week of the Australian Open three times. Also promising a bright future for women's tennis are 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Emboko and Czech Nikola Bartunkova, who broke Belinda Bencic's 12-match winning streak.
It should not be forgotten that 21-year-old American Coco Gauff is making her fourth appearance in the round of 16 at the Ozzy Open, and only her compatriot Lindsey Davenport was younger in that achievement.
However, the biggest attention is being drawn to Iva Jović's sudden breakthrough - she is the youngest player in the second week of the first Grand Slam, having turned 18 in December.
Today, she defeated her top 10 opponent, two-time Grand Slam finalist, Italian Zasmin Paolini, for the first time. In two sets - 6:2, 7:6.
Jović lost both matches to Paolini last year, holds the WTA 500 title from Guadalajara and is already 27th on the WTA list. She admitted that Novak Djokovic prepared her tactics to break Paolini's streak. She previously lost to her in the second round of the US Open and in Indian Wells
"I spoke to Novak yesterday. It was pretty incredible. He gave me some very specific advice for my game and something that I can try to apply in this match that I just won. That was at the forefront of my mind, because I think that when Novak gives you advice, of course you're going to listen. He just told me to open the court a little better, not to rush my shots and to shoot wide. That was always on my mind and it ended well. So I'm just going to keep listening to Novak," said Jović.
She is the daughter of Serbian immigrants to America, her father is from Leskovac and her mother is from Split. She opened this season brilliantly with the semi-finals in Auckland and the final in Hobart.
Jović will play against Yulia Putintseva in the fourth round and will have the unreserved support of the audience, as the Kazakh is at open war with the audience in Melbourne.
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