University of Georgia All-America Katarina Jokic, who capped a stellar sophomore season by being named the 2019 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Female Player of the Year, will be honored this week in New York as part of the ITA Leadership Weekend.
Jokic will be recognized along Mississippi State standout and ITA National Male Player of the Year Nuno Borges, 10 ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winners and Duquesne University’s Andrew “Drew” Akins, who was selected as the recipient of the 2019 ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award Endowed by Billie Jean King.
Jokic, who hails from Novi Grad, Bosnia, concluded the 2018-19 season as the top-ranked player in the season’s final ITA National Rankings. She captured the Oracle ITA National Fall Championship and was the NCAA Championships Singles Runner-Up. She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles.
As one of the leaders of head coach Jeff Wallace’s Bulldog squad, Jokic helped Georgia post a 28-2 mark that included an ITA National Team Indoor title, the Southeastern Conference regular-season crown, a runner-up finish in the NCAA Championships and a No. 2 final ITA ranking.
Jokic became the second Georgia women’s tennis player in program history to win the National Player of the Year Award, joining Angela Lettiere who earned the honor in 1994. She is also the second Bulldog to conclude the season in the top spot of the ITA singles rankings. Jokic was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships after going 4-0 and clinching the final two matches to secure Georgia’s sixth all-time team title.
A management major, Jokic was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award, an All-American in singles and doubles, a first-team All-SEC and Academic All-SEC selection and named to the ITA All Collegiate All-Star Team. On the court, she went 26-6 in singles and 20-10 in doubles while playing in the lineup’s top spot.
The ITA Leadership Weekend serves as a prelude to the start of the 2019 US Open main draw that begins Monday, August 26, at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium.
Highlights of the weekend include participation in the Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and an awards banquet inside the Empire State Building on Saturday before concluding with a community service event at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis in the Bronx on Sunday.
Georgia opens the fall tournament season Sept. 13-15 at the Puerto Rico Fall Classic in San Juan.