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Iva Jovic decided to be a free swinger. After her opponent, Valerie Glozman, had taken a 6-5 lead in the tiebreaker on a net cord, Jovic didn’t try to play it safe. She hit a solid forehand return and saved set point by ripping a backhand that landed perfectly down the line.

Singles and Doubles Champion Iva Jovic
© J. Fred Sidhu

Imbued with confidence, Jovic went on to capture the first set and never let her foot off the gas. The third-seeded Torrance, California native defeated No. 5 Glozman 7-6(6), 6-3 to capture the Girls 18s singles title at the Billie Jean King National Championships at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Less than two hours later, Jovic returned to the court to earn another gold ball, teaming with longtime partner Tyra Grant of Miami Beach to win the doubles title with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over No. 7-seeded Victoria Osuigwe and Maya Iyengar in the final.

“I don't think it's still really sunk in yet, because it was just such a long week,” said the 16-year-old Jovic. “I can't even remember the beginning of the tournament. There were so many matches that I had to win. I'm just really happy that I was able to come through all of them, because it's not easy to win that many matches.”