In her career, Jovanovski won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 singles title. On 4 August 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 32. On 3 November 2014, she peaked at No. 203 in the WTA doubles rankings.
Jovanovski began playing tennis aged seven at the Red Star Tennis Club.[1] Aged 12, she won the Serbian national U–14 championships and was the finalist of the U–16.[1] She turned professional in 2006 and played her first junior event at the tournament in Pančevo, Serbia, losing in straight sets to Ana Veselinović.[2] That year, she also lost to Simona Halep in the finals of the Heiveld Indoor Junior Championships. In 2007, Jovanovski won junior events in Città di Santa Croce, defeating Michelle Larcher de Brito, and reached the finals in Prato and Milano, losing to Romana Tabaková and Anastasia Pivovarova, respectively.[1][2]
Jovanovski would play at numerous junior Grand Slam tournaments. Her best result came at Wimbledon, where she was defeated by Madison Brengle in the quarterfinals. In 2008 Jovanovski decided to pursue her professional career on the ITF Circuit, but would also play at the junior Grand Slam events. She would reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing to Arantxa Rus and Laura Robson, respectively. Both Rus and Robson later won the tournaments.[3][4] Jovanovski's highest junior ranking was world number 5, which she achieved on 7 April 2008.[5]
Professional career
2006–2009
Jovanovski made her professional debut on the ITF Circuit in 2006 in Prokuplje, Serbia where she lost to Karolina Jovanović in the second round. Two years later, she won her first ITF title at that same tournament, beating Karin Morgošová in the final.[2][6] In 2008 Jovanovski reached an additional three finals, winning two of them.
She continued playing on the ITF Circuit, reaching the semifinals of three events – Belek, Sarajevo and Toruń – being defeated by Tetyana Arefyeva, Ana Jovanović, and Oksana Kalashnikova, respectively.[6] Jovanovski played qualifications for the 2009 US Open but lost, however, to American Carly Gullickson.[7][8][9] On 20 November 2009, Jovanovski reached the final of an ITF event in Pune, India but lost to Fujiwara.[10] On 29 November 2009, she reached the final of an ITF event in Toyota, Aichi but lost to the former world No. 4 Kimiko Date-Krumm.
Her next tournament was the French Open, where she defeated María Irigoyen in the first round of the qualifying stage, but then fell to Anastasia Pivovarova in the second. She then suffered losses in the semifinal of the ITF event in Maribor and the Eastbourne International qualifications, but managed to enter into the main draw at Wimbledon.[18] Jovanovski defeated Casey Dellacqua in the first round, but lost to eighth seed Victoria Azarenka in the second. Her result at Wimbledon helped her ranking rise to world No. 93. Jovanovski then played at the Slovenia Open but lost to compatriot and world No. 2, Jelena Janković, in the opening round. At the İstanbul Cup, she won three matches in straight sets to qualify for the main draw, but lost to Elena Vesnina in the first round. In August, Jovanovski qualified for the main draw of the first Premier 5 of the US Open Series, the Cincinnati Open.[19] She upset the 14th seed Aravane Rezaï in the first round,[20] but lost to Akgul Amanmuradova in the following round in straight sets. Jovanovski then attempted to qualify for the Rogers Cup and the Connecticut Open, but fell to Sorana Cîrstea and Elena Vesnina, respectively. Jovanovski played her second Grand Slam event at the US Open, but was defeated by Anastasia Rodionova in the first round. She also competed in women's doubles partnering with Janković, but they were defeated by Kimiko Date-Krumm and Ayumi Morita.
Jovanovski then played at the Guangzhou International Open, but lost to Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round. She also lost in the first round of the Hansol Korea Open to Kirsten Flipkens, after easily winning three qualification matches. Jovanovski was then defeated in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open qualifying by Pauline Parmentier. However, she managed to turn around the early losses by qualifying for the main draw of China Open, her first ever Premier Mandatory tournament.[21] In the opening round, she defeated a fellow qualifier, the 2009 US Open quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko. She then upset former world number one and good friend Janković in the second round, marking her first victory over a former world No. 1 and a top-ten player.[22] However, she was beaten by Shahar Pe'er in the third round.[23] Jovanovski then participated at the ITF tournaments in Torhout, Poitiers and Taipei, defeating players such as Sania Mirza, Rika Fujiwara and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, but without much further success. She finished the year as the youngest player in the top-100 of the WTA rankings.[24]
In December, Jovanovski played at the ITF tournament in Dubai. She defeated Julia Babilon in the first round, Petra Martić in the second and world No. 45 Anastasija Sevastova in the quarterfinals, then former world No. 16 Anabel Medina Garrigues in her semifinal, before losing to Sania Mirza in the final.[25][26] A week later, in Pune, Jovanovski won her fourth ITF title, and her first since 2008, defeating Nina Bratchikova.[27]
Jovanovski then played at the Copenhagen Open. She had defeated Stefanie Vögele, and upset the fourth seed Monica Niculescu, before losing in the quarterfinals to Petra Martić.[76] Jovanovski then played for Serbia in the Fed Cup semifinals against Russia. Although she and Aleksandra Krunić lost their doubles match to Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina, Serbia progressed through to the final with a 3–2 win.[77] After that, Jovanovski tried to qualify for the Budapest Grand Prix and the Madrid Open, but suffered two first–round losses to Romana Tabaková,[78] and Marta Domachowska respectively.[79] She then qualified for the Brussels Open, where she lost in the second round to the eight seed Kaia Kanepi.[80] At the French Open, Jovanovski lost to world No. 3, Agnieszka Radwańska.[81]
Jovanovski played her first grass–court tournament of the year at the Birmingham Classic where she suffered a first–round loss to Michelle Larcher de Brito, a qualifier.[82] She then tried to qualify for the Aegon International, but lost to Laura Robson in the final qualification round.[83] At the Wimbledon Championships, Jovanovski led in the first–round match against Eleni Daniilidou, when the Greek retired. She then lost to 15th seed Sabine Lisicki in three sets.[84] Jovanovski then entered the Baku Cup seeded fifth. She defeated Lesia Tsurenko in the first round, Valeria Solovyeva in the second, fellow Serb Aleksandra Krunić in the quarterfinals, and the second seed Alexandra Panova in the semifinals to advance in her first career WTA final. She defeated another first–time finalist Julia Cohen to win her first WTA Tour title.[85]
Following the capture of her first WTA title, Jovanovski went on to lose in the first rounds of her following three tournaments – the Washington Open, the Rogers Cup and the Western & Southern Open. At the Texas Tennis Open, Jovanovski defeated Alexandra Panova, and Mirjana Lučić, and led the match against Peng Shuai, when Peng retired, to reach the semifinal, where she lost to the eventual champion Roberta Vinci. At the final Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open, she beat Mona Barthel in the first round, but went on to lose to Dominika Cibulková in the second round.[86] Jovanovski then reached the quarterfinals of the Tashkent Open by defeating Dinah Pfizenmaier and Eleni Daniilidou, before falling to Donna Vekić. At her last four WTA tournaments of the season, Jovanovski reached the second round of the Guangzhou International Open, being defeated by Chanelle Scheepers; the third round of the Pan Pacific Open, losing to Caroline Wozniacki; the third round of the China Open, losing to Marion Bartoli; and the first round of the Kremlin Cup, being defeated by Sofia Arvidsson.[87]
Jovanovski was a member of the Serbia Fed Cup team during the 2012 World Group Final, but did not play any matches. She and Aleksandra Krunić were scheduled to play doubles against Hlaváčková and Hradecká, but the dead rubber was cancelled as the Czech Republic had already won 3–1.[88] As a result of their success in the 2012 Fed Cup, the team was honoured with the Award of Olympic Committee of Serbia as Women's Team of the Year.[89]
2013: Australian Open fourth round
Jovanovski played her first event of the season at the Shenzhen Open, where she was seeded eighth. She defeated Alexandra Cadanțu in the first round and Duan Yingying in the second, but lost in the quarterfinals to Li Na, who went on to win the tournament.[90] Jovanovski then played in Hobart, where she defeated María Teresa Torró Flor, before losing to Kirsten Flipkens in the second round.[91] At the Australian Open, Jovanovski again defeated Torró Flor, the 17th seed Lucie Šafářová, and Kimiko Date-Krumm, before losing to eventual semifinalist Sloane Stephens in the fourth round. This had been her best career Grand Slam result.[92] In doubles, Jovanovski partnered with Melinda Czink to triumph over Simona Halep and Arantxa Rus in the first round, but then fell to Natalie Grandin and Vladimíra Uhlířová in the second.[93]
She then lost seven matches in a row. Four of them were at Fed Cup. First Serbia played in World Group against Slovakia and lost 2–3. Jovanovski lost her two single matches. First to Daniela Hantuchová and then to Jana Čepelová in a tight match. Serbia then played play-offs to stay in the World Group, but lost to Germany 2–3. Ana Ivanovic won two singles matches, but Jovanovski lost her two. First to Angelique Kerber in two sets, and then to Mona Barthel in three.
Her first win after the Australian Open was at Rome in the first round. She defeated former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki. In the second round, she lost to Jelena Janković. At the French Open, she reached third round losing in two tight sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova; in second she defeated Wozniacki again. At Wimbledon, she reached the second round. Later in the summer, she played in Baku and New Haven. There she won just one match. At the US Open, she beat Andrea Petkovic in the first round, but lost to Petra Kvitová in round two.
At the Tashkent Open Jovanovski won her second WTA Tour title, coming through seven matches in eight days. She defeated Olga Govortsova in the final in three sets. In Guangzhou, Jovanovski defeated Sorana Cîrstea in round one. But she lost in the second round to Vania King, despite winning nine games in a row after the first set loss. She also won the title at the 125k event in Ningbo; beating Zhang Shuai in the final, again in three sets.
In Beijing Jovanovski once again defeated Cîrstea. But in the second round she was declassed by home favourite, Li Na, with Jovanovski winning just one game. But she finished a season in a better way, reaching the quarterfinals of Luxembourg. She defeated 2011 Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone in round one, and Hsieh Su-wei. In the quarterfinals she lost to the top seed and eventual champion, Caroline Wozniacki, in three sets.
2014
Jovanovski started season playing in Shenzhen, suffering a first round loss to German qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam. She then beat Annika Beck and Olivia Rogowska in Hobart, before losing to top seed Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals. At the Australian Open, Jovanovski wasn't seeded at first. But, after the withdrawal of Jamie Hampton who was seeded, Bojana became the 33rd seed and she was moved to the other side of draw. She started well with a three-set win over Jana Čepelová, but lost in the second round to Yvonne Meusburger.[94]
After Melbourne, Jovanovski moved seven places down on rankings. But, worse still, suffered a wrist injury, and faced a spell on the sidelines. She tried to play at the Indoors in Paris, but lost to Andrea Petkovic.[95] As a result, she was forced to withdraw from the tournaments in Doha, Dubai and also the Fed Cup.
Consequences of injuries continued for the results. Jovanovski lost convincingly at next four events in Acapulco, Indian Wells, Miami, and also first clay tournament of season in Marrakech, winning a total of just two matches.
In Oeiras, Jovanovski defeated Monica Puig in round one to face Elena Vesnina in round two, serving for the match and holding a match point for her first quarterfinal since Hobart, but lost in three sets. In the first round of Madrid she outclassed Karin Knapp, but lost in the second round to countrywoman Ana Ivanovic. Including that loss in Madrid, Jovanovski lost then six times in a row, including Roland Garros.
Jovanovski travelled to Wimbledon with a 7–15 win–loss season record, but scored her first win since Madrid with victory over Johanna Larsson. After that she came up with her best performance of the year, stunning eighth seed Victoria Azarenka in three sets to reach the third round.[96] It was her fourth top-10 win. She however missed a big chance to reach next round, falling to Czech qualifier and world No. 176 Tereza Smitková. Jovanovski had a match point in second set, then served two times for a match in final set (incl. another match point), but couldn't cross the finishing line. She also played in doubles, partnering with Eva Hrdinová, and mixed doubles too, with Mate Pavić, losing in the second round in both competitions.
Jovanovski then played in Istanbul, losing in the second round. Jovanovski then played in Baku, and reached second final at that tournament after beating Stefanie Vögele. She lost in two sets to Elina Svitolina in final. This was the first final which she lost, after winning her previous two. She went on to North America where the first tournament she played was at Washington. Although being tired, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Marina Erakovic for the second time in a year. She arrived in Montreal but soon found a downturn in form. All of her next series of matches in North America were lost in two sets: in Montreal, Cincinnati, New Haven and the US Open. Moving to Asia, Jovanovski reached the Tashkent final, but in China played three tournaments, winning not a single match.
2015
Jovanovski played two Australian Open warm-up events, and reached the second round of both. At the Australian Open itself, she lost in the first round to Roberta Vinci. Bad form continued, with losses in the first round of Doha and Kuala Lumpur.[97] She, however, managed to win one match in both Indian Wells and Miami, with a notable scalp coming against Mona Barthel in Miami.
The clay court season began for Jovanovski in Marrakesh where she lost to third seed Flavia Pennetta. In Madrid, she played qualifying but lost there in the second round to Mariana Duque. However, at the next tournament in Rome, Jovanovski finally won back-to-back matches. After winning two in qualifying, she then beat top players to reach third round, Caroline Garcia[98] and top-20 player Madison Keys.[99] She was finally stopped in round three by Maria Sharapova.[100]
2016–2017: Surgery and rehabilitation
With the condition of her wrist and right shoulder that has been bothering her for the past three seasons worsening, Jovanovski played in only five matches in 2016, each time losing in the first round in straight sets. Following the French Open first-round loss to Agnieszka Radwańska, Jovanovski said that she was going to miss all tournaments on grass court, including Wimbledon, to prepare for the second half of the season.[101] However, after unsuccessfully trying to rehabilitate with various non-surgery methods she notified the public in early July 2016 that on the advice of Spanish doctors, she has decided to undergo surgery in an attempt to continue with her tennis career.[102] With expected recovery period of four to five months, Jovanovski said she expects to be back in time for the Australian series in January 2017.[103] In an interview in September 2016, Jovanovski said she hopes to return to practice in November and that, although she could use protected ranking to play in the Australian Open, she doesn't want to use it for a tournament she isn't ready for, only wanting to return once she is fit, and deemed it unlikely to play in tournaments before February 2017.[104]
In July 2017, after having her first training after more than a year, it was speculated Jovanovski might return to court in autumn.[105] Later in July, she said she doesn't want to squander wildcards for tournaments at the end of the season when it is unrealistic for her to be completely ready and said she will most likely be ready for the beginning of 2018.[106] In September, Jovanovski confirmed that she will return to court in early 2018.[107]
2018: Return from injury, comeback
After almost a two-year layoff due to injury, Jovanovski played her first tournament at St. Petersburg in late January. She lost in the first round of qualifying to Océane Dodin, in straight sets. She then resumed playing ITF tournaments in mid-April.
On 28 November, she announced her retirement from professional tennis.
2021: Failed second comeback
Jovanovski Petrović became eligible to play professional tournaments again from 28 November 2020 by submitting to be available for out-of-competition doping tests.[108] However, it was later announced that she would retire on 20 November 2021[109] without having played a single comeback match.
Playing style and equipment
Jovanovski is an aggressive baseline player.[110] She cites forehand as her favourite shot and hard as her favourite court surface,[111] and stated she would like to improve her court movement and become mentally stronger.[110] Since the 2011 US Open she wears Adidas instead of Nike sports gear and uses Head rackets.[112]
Personal life
Jovanovski was born to father Zoran, a former football player, and mother Snežana, and also has a sister Viktorija.[110] Her father and coach Zoran Jovanovski introduced her to tennis when she was aged 7.[112] Jovanovski cites Maria Sharapova as her idol for being "an aggressive player and a strong personality".[113] She is good friends with Serbian tennis player Jelena Janković.[22] Jovanovski is fluent in Serbian and English.[111] Besides Head, Jovanovski is also sponsored by Knjaz Miloš.[114] In November 2016 she married her boyfriend Miloš Petrović.[115]
National identity
During the ITF tournament in Dubai in December 2010, it was rumoured Jovanovski would play for Macedonia, reportedly for "being in the shadow of Jelena and Ana".[116] Her father and coach Zoran Jovanovski denied the rumours at once, saying that "Bojana had never even been in Macedonia" and that the rumour was "made up because of her surname".[116][117]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.
^The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.