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Jovic in Tears After Beating ‘Incredible’ Friend Eala in US Open Epic

From Al Jazeera · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth From a news agency Outcome reported
  • American 14th seed Iva Jovic defeated 17th seed Alex Eala of the Philippines 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in a three-hour, three-minute US Open match.
  • Jovic became emotional after Eala crossed the court to congratulate her, highlighting their friendship and mutual respect.
  • Jovic advanced to the last 16, where she will face fourth seed and former champion Coco Gauff.

Iva Jovic could barely hold back tears when she described the gesture that followed her exhausting US Open victory over Alex Eala. After a three-hour, three-minute battle, Eala walked around the court to congratulate her friend rather than simply meeting her at the net.

It says a lot about her as a person to be able to do that after that type of match and still come over to hug me and wish me all the best.

· Iva JovicJovic became emotional while describing Eala’s sportsmanlike congratulations after their match.

Jovic, the 14th seed, recovered to win five of the final six games and beat 17th seed Eala 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. The match featured 17 service breaks in 33 games and marked a memorable Arthur Ashe Stadium debut for both rising players.

She’s incredible.

· Iva JovicJovic praised Eala’s character after the match.

The American said the contest felt like a marathon and that winning had taken everything she had. Eala’s reaction affected her even more. “It says a lot about her as a person to be able to do that after that type of match and still come over to hug me and wish me all the best,” Jovic said. “She’s incredible.”

That felt like a marathon, and I felt like I lost my sanity five times over to win that match.

· Iva JovicJovic described the physical and emotional strain of the three-set contest.

Jovic, 18, and Eala, 21, are friends and occasional doubles partners, and their familiarity helped produce a tense match with seven breaks in the first 11 games. Jovic now faces compatriot Coco Gauff, the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open champion. She said she would bring the same fight and energy into the next round and leave with her head high, whatever happens.

I’m going to be more than happy to just bring this fight and this energy, and whatever happens I can leave with my head high.

· Iva JovicJovic looked ahead to her last-16 match against Coco Gauff.
About this summary

Originally published by Al Jazeera in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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