The rising US star makes their debut in front of a fired-up crowd in Miami!

Iva Jović is the absolute sensation of this early 2026 season, and her current ranking doesn’t even yet reflect the full extent of her talent on hard courts. A finalist in Hobart and a semifinalist in Auckland, where she pushed Elina Svitolina to her limits (6–7, 2–6) while playing an astonishingly mature brand of tennis, she arrives in Florida with the status of a new contender. Her run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where she only lost to world No. 1 Sabalenka after steamrolling Paolini and Putintseva, proves that her ball speed and court coverage are already at elite level. For her very first match in the main draw in Miami, she fully intends to use her physical freshness to suffocate her opponents from the very first rallies.

For her part, Paula Badosa still seems to be in a full rebuilding phase after a disrupted 2025 season. Her hard-fought win yesterday against Sasnovich exposed glaring weaknesses in her lateral movement and a certain heaviness as soon as the rallies intensify. Faced with the relentless pace that Jović imposes from the baseline, the Spaniard is likely to be quickly overwhelmed by the reaction speed and aggressiveness of the 18-year-old prodigy. Badosa admitted she had trouble managing her emotions in her opening match; against an opponent who plays with the carefree confidence of future world No. 1s and who will not give her any free points, Paula’s lack of mobility will be the critical factor. The gap between Jović’s current level and Badosa’s lack of rhythm makes the American’s odds particularly attractive.