Iva Jovic followed a great rise on the WTA list with a personal story about her origins and upbringing, in which her parents and the way they built a life in the United States of America occupy a special place.
The talented tennis player of Serbian-Croatian roots spoke about identity and how much it means to her that she comes from a mixed family.
“I really feel blessed to have a mixed background, and of course the USA is generally a very mixed country,” said Iva Jovic.
As she explained, from the moment they arrived in America, her parents insisted that she and her sister not lose their connection with the language and tradition.
“My parents were about 25 or 30 years old when they came to the USA. That is why it was very important to them that my sister and I speak the language. When we were younger, they sometimes knew how to make up little white lies and say that they didn’t speak English, just to force us to learn Serbian,” she said.
Such an approach led to the fact that Serbian was their first language in childhood, which remained important later as well.
“So my sister went to English classes at the beginning, because our first language was Serbian. It’s nice that we can talk to our aunts, uncles, and grandparents in Serbian, because they don’t speak much English. And many things simply aren’t as funny nor do they make sense when translated into English.”
In the end, Jovic pointed out how much she was shaped by the story of her parents, who built a life from scratch in expensive Los Angeles.
“I think my parents’ story and the way they emigrated is very inspiring. They didn’t have much when they came to such a big city – and Los Angeles is very expensive. They worked a lot and I think I realized very early on that nothing was waiting for me on its own. I had to fight for the life I wanted myself,” Iva concluded.
In a short time, Jovic reached 16th place on the WTA list and confirmed that she belongs to the very top of the new generation.
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Source: Sportal, Photo: AP Photo / Aaron Favila