Defending champion Iva Jovic, the No. 2 seed and world No. 16, will meet fellow American Peyton Stearns for the Guadalajara WTA 500 title after both came through Friday’s semifinals without dropping a set. It guarantees an American winner in Mexico for a second successive year and sets up the second all-American WTA final of 2026.
The match
Jovic defeated sixth seed Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour, 33 minutes, producing an exceptional serving performance under pressure to reach her second final of the season.
The teenager opened by surviving five break points across three demanding service games. She later recovered immediately after being broken to love while serving for the opening set at 5-3, breaking Bucsa in the next game to close it out.
Jovic saved 11 of the 12 break points she faced, including all six opportunities Bucsa created in the second set. The 2025 Guadalajara winner is seeking to retain the WTA 500 crown she won as the youngest American tour-level champion since Coco Gauff in 2021, and the youngest winner at this tournament level since Martina Hingis in 1998.
“There were plenty of swings in the match, but I stayed strong on serve and found a way through in two sets,” Jovic said. “Defending the title has brought different things to manage and adjust to, but I have tried to keep a positive approach all week.”
Stearns followed with a 7-6(7), 6-2 victory over eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova, who had eliminated top seed Marta Kostyuk in the quarterfinals. Playing Samsonova for the first time, Stearns fell behind by two breaks at both 3-0 and 4-2 in the first set before changing the direction of the contest.
After two missed set points in the 12th game, Stearns converted her sixth set-point chance in the tiebreak. She carried that momentum into the second set, where four games reached deuce, and protected a pivotal hold from 0-30 in the fourth game before moving clear.
“I began a little tight and was playing on my heels, while she came out attacking,” Stearns said. “When I settled down and relaxed, I felt I handled things much better.”
The victory improved Stearns’ tour-level semifinal record to 4-1. Her previous four semifinal appearances had all come at WTA 250 events.
The next round
Jovic and Stearns will contest their first career meeting in Saturday’s final, with neither player having surrendered a set during this year’s Guadalajara draw.
Jovic is chasing another WTA 500 trophy and a successful title defence, while Stearns is pursuing her second title of 2026 after winning the ATX Open in February.
