Eighteen-year-old Matthew Forbes and 16-year-old Iva Jovic have earned main-draw wild cards into the 2024 US Open by virute of their respective victories at the USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 18s National Championships over the weekend.
Recent high-school graduate and Michigan State University commit Forbes, the 20th seed, beat eighth-seeded New Yorker Jack Kennedy 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in Sunday’s final, while third-seeded Jovic became the first player in three years to sweep the girls' singles and doubles titles at the prestigious San Diego event.
Jovic, seeded third, defeated No. 5 seed Valerie Glozman, 17, in the singles final, 7-6(6), 6-3, before partnering with fellow 16-year-old Tyra Caterina Grant for the doubles title and the wild card that comes with it. The pair have been finalists at the three Grand Slams this year, winning in Australia and at Wimbledon, and are also the two-time reigning Orange Bowl champions.
Eighteen-year-olds Nikita Filin and Alexander Razeghi won the boys’ 18s doubles title, and will feature in the men's doubles main draw.
Jovic is the first player to sweep the girls' singles and doubles titles in San Diego since Ashlyn Krueger in 2021. She's currently ranked No. 388 in the WTA rankings, and last year, won her first professional singles title on the USTA Pro Circuit. In May, Jovic reached the final of a USTA Pro Circuit W75 event in Zephyrhills, Fla. as a wild card, defeating former Top 100 players Kayla Day and Timea Babos en route.
Forbes will play college tennis at Michigan State in the fall, and the US Open will be just the third professional tournament of his career. He notably won the boys’ 18s doubles title at the 2023 Orange Bowl with Andrew Delgado.
Glozman, from Bellevue, Wash. and a rising freshman at Stanford, and 16-year-old Kennedy, who hails from nearby Huntington on Long Island, will both earn a wild card into qualifying. Glozman has won a round in women's qualifying in each of the last two years.
