Twelve months ago, Iva Jovic of the United States was sat in her Los Angeles home with a pair of crutches beside her watching Wimbledon on television after fracturing her foot.

There were also some associated ankle injuries which Jovic had to contend with before making her return to the court at the US Open Junior Championships in New York in September.

Fast forward to the present day and the 16-year-old is fit and firing again. She also boasts a career-high position of No. 6 in the ITF World Tennis Tour junior rankings following a highly productive season.

Jovic has designs on continuing that trend at the 2024 Junior Championships, Wimbledon and was leading 6-0 0-2 in her second-round showdown with Spain’s Charo Esquiva Banuls when rain returned.

“I remember being at home this time last year,” Jovic told itftennis.com. “I was on crutches. I had a fracture in my foot and then some ankle injuries. It took me a while to get back on court and during Wimbledon I was nowhere near.

“I was sat at home watching a lot of Wimbledon on ESPN+ as I just wanted to see how everyone was doing. It was frustrating but with my injury coming before Roland Garros, by that stage I was more accepting of it.

“I was obsessed with watching Wimbledon as that was the closest thing I had to playing. If anything, watching helped me. I was like, ‘great shot selection there’, which helped keep my tennis senses on. I tried to make the most of the situation.

“Having missed last year, I am making up for lost time here. I am really enjoying it and it is very special. This is what you work for in juniors, to play these sorts of tournaments – it’s as cool as it gets.”

Jovic may only have one singles title to her name in 2024, sealed at J300 San Diego in March, but she has reached the latter stages of tournaments on a regular basis and is content with her on-court development.

“I feel happy with how everything is going,” said Jovic, who is a two-time Billie Jean King Cup Juniors champions after being part of the victorious United States teams in 2022 and 2023.

“I have had a lot of good weeks, making a lot of semis and a lot of finals but I want to win some more titles now as I only have one this year. I am looking for titles. But I’m happy to have won a lot of matches.”

In-keeping with promoting the personality and character of players, during a conversation amid incessant downpours on Tuesday, Jovic was happy to reveal a little-know fact about herself.

“I love to skateboard,” she added. “We have a really cool cul-de-sac in my street so there are times I go with my friends and race on the street. Sometimes we just sit with our butts on the board and race like that.

“I don’t do tricks but around the streets I cruise and it’s almost a daily thing. I can go off a little platform and drop down but I cannot twist my board or go on the rails.

“I also used to play soccer when I was younger and that helped with my tennis footwork. I have a little football that Adidas gave me at Roland Garros and I carry it around.”

Having witnessed her football skills at J300 Roehampton, it is safe to say that Jovic has game.

A list of results from the 2024 Junior Championships, Wimbledon is available here.