At 18, Iva Jovic defends Guadalajara, and both her tour titles are here

Two. That is how many career tour titles Iva Jovic has, and both of them came in Guadalajara. The 18-year-old beat Peyton Stearns 6-4, 6-2 in Saturday's final to defend the title she won here in 2025, needing three match points to close out their first meeting.

Jovic won 56% of total points, 61 of 108, without facing a single break point across nine service games. Stearns hit more aces, five to four, and both players made 57% of first serves, but Jovic won 78% of her first-serve points to Stearns's 62%, and converted three of the five break points she created against Stearns's serve.

In the first set, Jovic broke to lead 5-4 before serving it out 6-4. She broke again to open the second set for 1-0, and once more to lead 5-2, closing it out 6-2. Serving for the match, she needed three match points: Stearns saved the first two before Jovic converted the third.

It is Jovic's second career tour title, and both have come in Guadalajara, where she won the title in 2025. The 18-year-old, seeded second, beat Zeynep Sonmez, Magdalena Frech, the seventh seed, and Cristina Bucsa, the sixth seed, without dropping a set from the round of 16 on, in what was also her first meeting with Stearns. Stearns, 24, arrived off a season that includes a title in Austin and a 22-17 record. The result puts Jovic's season record at 37-17 and keeps her ranked 16th, with Guadalajara still the only tournament where she has won a tour title.

Match tale, 19 September 2026, sources: Guadalajara Open Akron, api-tennis