Iva Jovic beats Amanda Anisimova to reach the Queen's Club semifinals and claim the biggest win of her career
Iva Jovic achieved the most valuable victory of her professional career so far and secured a place in the semifinals of the HSBC Championships at London's Queen's Club. The eighteen-year-old American, the sixth seed of the tournament, defeated the second seed Amanda Anisimova 6:2, 3:6, 6:3 in the quarterfinals on Friday, June 12, 2026. According to the official WTA report, it was her first triumph against a player from the top five in the world rankings, while Anisimova arrived in London as the world No. 5 and the finalist of last year's edition of the tournament. The result further underlined Jovic's rise on grass, a surface on which she had already won the WTA 125 title in Ilkley last season and earned a place in the main draw of Wimbledon.
The match was played as part of a WTA 500 tournament held on grass at Queen's Club in London, one of the best-known tennis venues in the British calendar. According to official WTA data, the women's HSBC Championships 2026 run from June 8 to 14, feature a singles draw of 28 players and have a total prize fund of 1.915 million US dollars. The WTA states that women's professional tennis returned to this tournament after more than half a century, giving Queen's additional importance ahead of Wimbledon in the women's part of the grass-court season as well. In such an environment, Jovic took advantage of her opportunity against an opponent who already had extensive experience of the closing stages at the biggest tournaments.
A controlled start, a difficult drop and a mature response in the third set
Jovic opened the contest with exceptional determination and already in the first set imposed a rhythm that left Anisimova little room for comfortable play from the baseline. She won the first set 6:2, mainly thanks to greater stability in rallies and better shot selection at key moments. In its report, the WTA points out that Jovic stayed calm in the early phase of the match even after missed opportunities, including a long game in which she failed to earn a double break, but immediately afterward stopped Anisimova's attempt to come back. Such a mental reaction was important because, from the start, the match had the features of a duel between two attack-minded players, in which the advantage could change quickly.
Anisimova found a response in the second set. After losing the opening part of the match, the second seed raised her level of aggression, stepped into her shots earlier and took control over a larger part of the rallies. Jovic, according to the WTA's description of the match, went through a period with several double faults and quickly found herself in a large deficit. Anisimova closed out the set 6:3, although Jovic managed to regain part of her rhythm toward the end of that section, move forward to the net more often and begin to create pressure on return. It was precisely that late shift in the second set that became the foundation for what happened in the deciding part of the match.
The third set confirmed why this victory can be considered a turning point in Jovic's young career. Instead of allowing the lost set to knock her out of her game plan, Jovic once again raised the intensity, opened the decisive part with an early break and protected the advantage until the end. Anisimova continued to create pressure with powerful shots and tried to shorten the points, but Jovic was more precise in choosing the moment to attack. The final 6:3 in the third set brought her first semifinal at Queen's Club and one of the most important victories of the season. According to the official WTA article, this win ended her previous 0-4 record against players from the top 5 group.
The statistics reveal why Jovic survived Anisimova's pressure
Although Anisimova had more direct points, the numbers published in the WTA report clearly show where Jovic gained the decisive advantage. Anisimova finished the match with 29 winners, while Jovic had 17, confirming that the second seed had stronger raw offensive power in certain phases of the match. However, the difference in unforced errors was decisive: Anisimova made 39 of them, while Jovic made only 15. On grass, where points often last for a shorter time and where a poor shot choice brings consequences more quickly, that level of control is especially important.
After the match, according to the WTA, Jovic emphasized that she feels more confident on grass from match to match. She stressed that she still has to work on her serve, return and the first two shots in a point, but said that her game is "moving in the right direction". Such a statement describes her London performance well: it was not only one victory against a highly ranked opponent, but confirmation that she increasingly understands the specific demands of the grass-court surface. Against Anisimova, she had to accept that she would not have much rhythm because her opponent attacks the ball early, so, according to her own explanation in the WTA text, she tried to be as offensive as possible and change the direction of play before Anisimova could take control.
An important detail of the match was also the way Jovic reacted to uncomfortable moments. In the second set she lost the initiative, but she did not change the basic identity of her game nor did she begin waiting for mistakes. Instead, she gradually returned to a more aggressive position on the court and in the third set again took the first strike in many rallies. The WTA emphasized in its analysis that Jovic had to "reset" her performance after a weaker period, which for a player of her age is just as important as the technical execution. It was precisely that combination of calmness and determination that separated this result from an ordinary upset.
The biggest result against the elite and the continuation of a strong rise
Jovic arrived in London as a player who had already made visible progress in 2026. According to her WTA profile, she is currently ranked as the world No. 19, while her career-best ranking was No. 16. The same official biography states that she was born on December 6, 2007, in Torrance, California, that she started playing tennis at the age of five and that her favorite surface is grass. These details explain why her result at Queen's Club did not come outside a broader context, but rather as a continuation of a gradual rise through the junior, ITF and WTA levels.
The WTA states that last year Jovic won her first WTA title in Guadalajara and became a tournament champion at the age of just 17. In the 2025 season she also won the WTA 125 title in Ilkley, which was an important step in her entry into the top hundred and then the top fifty players in the world. In 2026, according to the WTA report from Queen's, she also made her first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open and consolidated her place in the top twenty. The London semifinal is listed as her fourth semifinal at WTA level this season, after Auckland, Hobart and Charleston.
The victory over Anisimova carries additional weight because it came against a player long known for an exceptionally powerful baseline game. According to her WTA profile, Anisimova was the world No. 5 ahead of this tournament, and in her career she has also been No. 3 in the WTA rankings. Her official results include titles in Doha and Beijing in 2025, Melbourne in 2022 and Bogotá in 2019, as well as finals at Wimbledon, the US Open and Queen's Club in 2025. Such a list of results shows that Jovic did not defeat only a highly ranked opponent, but a player with experience on the biggest stages and in important finals.
Queen's Club as an important test ahead of Wimbledon
The HSBC Championships at Queen's Club are traditionally strongly connected with preparations for Wimbledon, and the return of the women's WTA 500 tournament has further expanded the significance of the London week. According to the WTA, the tournament is played on grass in West Kensington, at a venue whose tennis history dates back to 1889. For players targeting a good result at Wimbledon, this tournament offers a rare opportunity to test their serve, return, movement and transition to the net on grass under competitive conditions. Jovic's result therefore cannot be viewed only as an individual success in one draw, but also as a signal that her game is increasingly suited to the demands of the fastest surface.
Grass in particular has played a special role in her career so far. The WTA states that Jovic won the junior Wimbledon doubles title in 2024 with Tyra Caterina Grant, and in 2025 she made one of her important professional breakthroughs on grass in Ilkley. Now, at Queen's Club, she has earned a victory that gives her another major experience in the closing stages of a WTA 500 tournament. Such results create a different level of expectations, but also confirm that her progress is not limited to one surface or one week. Ahead of the continuation of the grass-court season, Jovic is increasingly clearly emerging as a player who can be dangerous even against the strongest opponents.
The tournament in London was also marked by weather disruptions, which further complicated the schedule. According to the LTA report, Thursday passed without play because of rain and bad weather in west London, so some players had to play a compressed schedule on Friday. This also affected the development of the draw because some second-round and quarterfinal matches had to be moved or postponed. In that rhythm, Jovic managed to complete her task against Anisimova and secure her place among the last four earlier. Her opponent in the semifinal was supposed to be the winner of the match between Emma Raducanu and Kamilla Rakhimova, which according to official WTA and LTA information was moved to Saturday, June 13.
The wider context of the semifinal and the fight for the title
The LTA stated in its official report that one semifinal pairing was already known after Friday: Katie Boulter against Donna Vekić. Boulter recorded a major victory that same day against the top seed Elena Rybakina, while Vekić, as a lucky loser from qualifying, defeated Marie Bouzková and then Karolína Plíšková. That part of the draw showed how open the London tournament was and how much the grass surface further leveled the balance among the players. In the other part of the draw, Jovic awaited the outcome between Raducanu and Rakhimova, with the possibility that her next opponent would have to play two singles matches on the same day.
For Jovic, the semifinal will be an opportunity to turn the win over Anisimova into an even bigger result. The WTA states that a possible place in the final would be the third final at WTA Tour level of her career. So far, she has already shown that she does not rely only on one shot or a short-lived burst of form, but that she can adapt her game against different profiles of opponents. Against Anisimova she had to survive power and directness, while in the next match she could face a different style, depending on the outcome of the postponed quarterfinal. What remains her greatest asset after this match is confirmation that she can come back after losing a set and defeat an opponent from the very top of the world.
Anisimova, on the other hand, leaves the singles competition earlier than she expected given her status as the second seed and last year's finalist. Still, her performance in the second set showed why she remains one of the most dangerous attackers on the WTA Tour. The problem against Jovic was that a high number of winners was accompanied by too many errors, and on grass such a ratio is difficult to compensate for against a player who protects the court well and does not give away many points. The defeat at Queen's Club is therefore a warning for Anisimova ahead of the continuation of the grass-court season, but it does not change the fact that she is entering a period in which deep results will continue to be expected from her.
Jovic's progress to the semifinals remains the main news of the American quarterfinal at Queen's Club. In a match that could have gone the way of the more experienced and higher-ranked Anisimova, the younger player showed a better balance between attack and control. Official WTA data and tournament reports confirm that this was a victory with clear sporting significance: a first win over a top 5 player, a first semifinal at this tournament and another step in a season in which Jovic is increasingly quickly transforming from a promising teenager into a serious contender for the closing stages of major tournaments. Queen's Club has, at least for now, given her exactly the kind of confirmation that young players rarely receive without a direct clash with the elite.
Sources:
- WTA – report on Iva Jovic's victory over Amanda Anisimova and statements after the match (link)
- LTA – official overview of results and schedule of the HSBC Championships 2026 (link)
- WTA – official overview of the HSBC Championships 2026 tournament in London (link)
- WTA – official draw and results of The HSBC Championships 2026 tournament (link)
- WTA – profile of tennis player Iva Jovic and biographical data (link)
- WTA – profile of tennis player Amanda Anisimova and biographical data (link)