Iva Jovic wins Pro Circuit title, moves into pole position for Roland Garros wild card

Heading into its final week, the Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge has a new women's leader and a tight race between the men's top two. 

Seventeen-year-old rising star Iva Jovic now leads the women's Challenge as the race heads into its final week. The 17-year-old reigning USTA Girls' 18s national champion is now competing, among several other late contenders, at the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Bonita Springs, Fla., while Varvara Lepchenko remains in contention at the WTA 125 in Saint Malo, France. Jovic shot to the top of the standings by winning the USTA Pro Circuit W100 last week in Charlottesville, Va., her first pro title at the W100 level. She's aiming to compete in her third straight Grand Slam event via wild card, after playing in the 2024 US Open as the Girls' 18s winner and this year's Australian Open after winning the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge.

"I'm definitely more aware of the playoff, especially since I got [the wild card] for Australia," Jovic said in a Monday interview on Tennis Channel 2. "So I know how it works, but I just want to win more titles and then if the wild card comes, then it's great."

Discussing her clay-court form, she added: "I think I'm just doing a good job moving on the clay. I'm trying to work on my sliding a lot and just getting more comfortable there. So I think I'm doing that a lot better than I was a couple of years ago, just being open to learning about the surface and getting better on it. So I definitely like to play a lot more now [on clay]."

Former NCAA singles champion Ethan Quinn, meanwhile, closed the gap on leader Emilio Nava by qualifying and reaching the second round at the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid, and could overtake Nava with a deep run at the ATP Challenger 175 in Estoril, Portugal. Since the Challenge only counts a player's best three events during the Challenge's five-week window, Quinn would need to make the semifinals in Estoril to leapfrog into first place.

Read more: Tennis in his blood, clay in his shoes: How Emilio Nava slid into 19-match win streak

Women's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

1. Iva Jovic (141) -- 130

2. Julieta Pareja (335) -- 116

3. Caty McNally (287) -- 102

4. Louisa Chirico (151) -- 79

5. Varvara Lepchenko (120) -- 70

Men's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

1. Emilio Nava (132) -- 119

2. Ethan Quinn (119) -- 100

3. Colton Smith (161) -- 63

4. Chris Eubanks (108) -- 50

5. Eliot Spizzirri (125) -- 44

Previous Wild Card Challenge Winners & Roland Garros Results

2024: Sachia Vickery (1R); Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (1R)

2023: Emma Navarro (2R); Patrick Kypson (1R)

2022: Katie Volynets (2R); Michael Mmoh (1R) 

2019: Lauren Davis (2R); Tommy Paul (1R)

2018: Taylor Townsend (2R); Noah Rubin (1R) 

2017: Amanda Anisimova (1R); Tennys Sandgren (1R) 

2016: Taylor Townsend (2R); Bjorn Fratangelo (2R) 

2015: Louisa Chirico (1R); Frances Tiafoe (1R)

2014: Taylor Townsend (3R); Robby Ginepri (1R)

2013: Shelby Rogers (2R); Alex Kuznetsov (1R)

2012: Melanie Oudin (2R); Brian Baker (2R)

Roland Garros 2025 will be held from May 25 - June 8 in Paris.