Iva Jovic will take on Nikola Bartunkova in the semifinals of the Guadalajara Open.
Jovic has shown incredible maturity at the age of 17. After title-winning runs in Charlottesville (ITF W100) and Ilkey (ITF W125), she reached the third round of the Cincinnati Open. She also entered the main draw in New York, but lost to Jasmine Paolini in tthe second round.
The American has been brilliant in Guadalajara so far. After crusing past Katarzyna Kawa and Camila Osorio in hr initial few rounds, she eliminated Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva in the quaterfinals. Jovic defeated the qualifier in a close three-set bout, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6).
Meanwhile, Nikola Bartunkova has played most of her tennis on the ITF circuit so far. Apart from title-winning runs in Stuttgart-Vaihingen (ITF W35) and Hechingen (ITF W75), she also secured a runner-up finish in Glasgow (ITF W35).
The Czech started her campaign in Guadalajara with confident wins over Nicole Fossa Huergo and Darja Vidmanova in the initial few rounds. She then stunned the fourth seed Magdalena Frech in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. Bartunkova has yet to drop a set in Guadalajara so far.
An entertaining battle will be in the cards in Guadalajara. Jovic has made an instant impact since making her debut on tour. The youngster has a bright future on the cards and will having nothing to lose in the next round.
Bartunkova, meanwhile, is competing in her third main tour event this week. She will be delighted with her performance so far and has a great chance to enter the finals. The Czech won 77% of her first serve points nd saved two break points in the previous match.
While Jovic has slightly better results in the last few weeks, Bartunkova has hardly put a foot wrong in Guadalajara. Considering their skill set on hard courts and momentum on tour, Jovic might just sneak through to the final.