NorCal's Jovic gains doubles final in $60K Rome, Ga.

Jovana Jovic (formerly Jaksic), a 27-year-old Serbian
living in Sacramento, Calif., seeks her fifth ITF doubles
title. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Belarus' Olga Govortsova and Serbia's Jovana Jovic (formerly Jaksic), both of whom have ties to Sacramento, Calif., edged Americans Catherine Harrison and Sophia Whittle 6-2, 2-6 [12-10] in a battle of unseeded teams in the semifinals of the $60,000 Rome (Ga.) Challenger. 

   The 32-year-old Govortsova, who played for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2013, and the 27-year-old Jovic, who lives in Sacramento, are scheduled to face unseeded Emina Bektas of the United States and Tara Moore of Great Britain on Saturday at about noon PST. Live streaming will be available.

   Bektas and Moore, the doubles champions in the $25,000 Redding (Calif.) Challenger in 2019, beat unseeded Despina Papamichail of Greece and Katie Swan of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2.

   Jovic seeks her fifth ITF doubles title, first since $60,000 Ashland, Ky., in 2018 and first with Govortsova.

   Meanwhile, three singles qualifiers — Bektas, Irene Burillo Escorihuela of Spain and Ana Sophia Sanchez of Mexico — reached Saturday's semifinals.

   Bektas is set to meet unseeded American Grace Min, the runner-up to Sofia Kenin in the 2016 Sacramento Challenger, at 8 a.m., followed by Burillo Escorihuela against Sanchez. The matches also will be streamed live.

   UTR Pro Tennis Series — Priya Nelson, 15, of Sacramento is slated to play Emma Sun, a high school junior from Newbury Park in the Los Angeles area, on Saturday in a round-robin finale in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Nelson is 1-2 in the $25,000 singles-only tournament, and Sun is 0-3.

   Cal women — No. 19 California blitzed visiting San Francisco 7-0 to improve to 3-1. Haley Giavara, a sopohomore All-American from San Diego, dominated Mya Bui, a senior from Canada, 6-2, 6-2 on Court 1.