Mia Jovic '23 Recruiting Profile

Hi, my name is Mia Jovic. I am in the graduating class of 2023 at South High School. This is probably something you hear a lot but, I really have been playing tennis for as long as I can remember.  It started with my younger sister and I running around a court and playing with our dolls and throwing around those soft foam tennis balls that had a Dora face stamped on them. Over the years I really started to love the sport. My favorite day of the year would be when my parents would take my sister and I to the BNP Paribas open masters tournament. The amount of anticipation for this one day every year is surreal. My seven year old self would frantically run around from practice court to practice court collecting signatures and marveling over the fact that I saw Novak practicing. Even now as a 16 year old girl I get insanely excited over BNP, as I prepare to add more signatures to my huge collection, and watch some of my greatest role models on court. 

    At this point in my life tennis is just a part of me and I am certain that I want it to be a part of my college life. I love it. I love the thrill a long point gives me. I love the brilliant pop of opening a new can of balls. I love the feeling of satisfaction after a good practice and match. Yes, my peers might be rolling their eyes right now over how, as they would say “cheesy” i just sounded, but I am just trying to be honest both with you and myself. Realistically there is no denying that tennis has both mentally and physically pushed me beyond my limits. Tennis has mentally tested me like nothing before. If I am being honest with you, probably my greatest weaknesses on court are mental. I have excessively worked on improving my mental game and plan on continuing to do so in order to become a stronger player and person.

    I would describe myself as an aggressive baseliner. I additionally have a lot of advantages because of my height (5’9 and a half) in comparison to my competitors. I produce a lot of pace on my shots, and have a very aggressive and powerful forehand. I have a good serve and can run down almost any shot. I always aim to play consistently while being as aggressive as possible, always looking for a way to come to the net and finish points. I additionally enjoy mixing in some angles and drop shots while playing. Obviously, not every point works out as perfectly as I just portrayed it, but what I can say is that I always try to stick to my aggressive game and I won’t give up. This mentality has allowed me to make a lot of comebacks, even on bad days, where nothing seemed to be going right. Even if I am down 0-5 I will play my hardest until the very end. This usually leads to my family complaining about how long some of my matches have lasted.

I have been honored to be a part of my varsity high school team, where I have played #1 singles the past two years. I was also very comfortable with playing doubles, whenever needed. Furthermore I have won our singles and doubles pioneer league my freshman and sophomore year, and have earned the MVP award. I absolutely loved being part of a team and supporting my teammates throughout every match over the past few years. Singles matches in tournaments are not the same as singles matches in my high school season. During my school season I know I can rely on my wonderful teammates, and it's such a reassuring feeling. I have their back and they have mine, and this tight knit group is something I would be insanely lucky to be a part of in my future college experience. I am extremely looking forward to being a part of a college team and being a part of such a wonderful support system. Currently my singles UTR is an 8.0, which I am hoping to improve throughout my Junior and Senior year. I hope you’ll take the time and watch my video for a great assessment of my game.

I am hoping to pursue engineering or medicine in college, both very hard and rigorous fields. But I am very driven and organized, and am convinced that I will be able to find the perfect balance between tennis and school. I have maintained a 3.96 unweighted gpa, and have a 4.6 weighted gpa, on top of the various clubs and organizations I take part in.

I hope this helped to get to know me a little better, and I am really looking forward to talking with you! 

I hope to hear from you soon,

Sincerely,

Mia Jovic