Young and clutch: Teenagers are 7-0 this year in WTA Tour finals

The future is bright -- and awfully clutch.

The next generation was in full force this past weekend, as 17-year-old Iva Jovic won the Guadalajara Open Akron Presented by Santander and 19-year-old Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah captured the SP Open in Sao Paulo. Jovic defeated Emiliana Arango 6-4, 6-1, and Rakotomanga Rajaonah upset Indonesian Janice Tjen -- also a first-time finalist -- 6-3, 6-4 to win not only her first Hologic WTA Tour title, but her first career hard-court title as a professional at any level. (How's that for your first?!)

How improbable was this title for Rakotomanga Rajaonah? Keep in mind that in her first-round match, she trailed Ana Sofia Sanchez 5-0 in the deciding third set before storming back and winning it in a tiebreak. She didn't drop a set the rest of the tournament.

Teenagers are now 7-0 in WTA finals this season.

With the title in Mexico, Jovic -- the youngest player in the Top 100 of the PIF WTA Rankings -- became the youngest player to win a WTA title this year, and became the youngest American to win a WTA title since Coco Gauff won in Parma, Italy four years ago.

Jovic, a Southern California native, entered the tournament ranked 73rd in the world. She's now No. 36 and boasts a sparkling 35-13 record in 2025.

Prior to Jovic's title in Guadalajara, the youngest player to win a tour-level title this year was now-No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, who won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February. (She, too, was 17 years old, but a couple weeks older than Jovic when she won.) Andreeva followed that up with a title in Indian Wells, another WTA 1000 tournament, the next month.

The other teens who won finals this year are 19-year-old Maya Joint -- who won in Rabat and Eastbourne -- and then-18-year-old Victoria Mboko, who came into Montreal as a wild card, ranked 85th in the world, and defeated four Grand Slam champions en route to the prestigious title.

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