Novak Djokovic protégée Olga Danilovic stuns Jessica Pegula for first Australian Open fourth round

Slam Dunk: with Novak Djokovic looking on, Olga Danilovic stormed into her first Australian Open fourth round Friday night, stunning Jessica Pegula, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Djokovic has served as a longtime mentor to Danilovic, the daughter of famed basketball star Predrag Danilovic, who has been known for her immense potential but has long lacked the consistency necessary to find a home in the world’s Top 50.

Currently ranked No. 55, the 23-year-old is now tentatively projected to make a long overdue Top 50 debut after scoring a second Top 10 major victory in the last 12 months, blitzing the No. 7 seed and 2024 US Open finalist in 90 minutes flat.

“I’m super happy with the way I played, honestly,” beamed Danilovic on court after the match. “She’s on top of the world, such a great player. I knew I had to bring my AAA+++ game to beat her. But you know, in the back of my mind, I really believed in myself. I came on this court to enjoy first; this is my first time on such a big court, on Rod Laver Arena.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m just so happy at the moment!”

Danilovic, who won her first WTA title as a teenager all the way back in 2018—where she contested the first final between players born after the year 2000—began the 2025 season alongside Djokovic for United Cup, but the two go much farther back since the youngster first began training at the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s eponymous academy several years ago.

“I think we all know that he’s mentally, the greatest ever,” she said back in 2021. “Of course, his playing is great, but his mental game is something different. We talked about that a lot, the importance of being present and being in the moment. Just enjoy and fight until the end. Those kinds of things sound really simple, but that’s what you need to have.”

But as she honed her mental fortitude, physical struggles threatened her consistency: after giving that interview at the 2021 US Open, she was forced to withdraw from what would have been a blockbuster match against former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, and the Serb has missed large stretches of the last few seasons due to various injuries and illnesses.

Case in point: despite reaching the third round of 2023 Roland Garros, she still had to play qualifying at the following year’s Australian Open, where she lost in the second round.

I have a great team behind me. I have family that’s always been supporting me through these nice moments, but also 12 months ago, they were the same as now. I believed in myself, I worked really hard, and now I’m here in the second week! Olga Danilovic

“Those moments are so tough,” Daniolovic recalled to Laura Robson, “but I have a great team behind me. I have family that’s always been supporting me through these nice moments, but also 12 months ago, they were the same as now. I believed in myself, I worked really hard, and now I’m here in the second week!”

She backed up her 2023 run in Paris with an even better result, scoring her first major Top 10 victory en route to the fourth round, and enjoyed a consistent stretch where she won a second WTA title in Guangzhou to guarantee Grand Slam qualifying was, at least for now, a thing of the past.

Unseeded in Melbourne, she endured a difficult draw to upset No. 25 seed Liudmila Samsonova to book a clash with Pegula, who made her first major final last summer in Flushing Meadows. The experience gap made little difference on Rod Laver Arena as Danilovic edged through a tense opening set and opened up her shoulders in the second, showing off her easy power and lefty groundstrokes to secure a 5-1 lead.

Pegula made Danilovic work in the end, saving two match points, but Danilovic would not be denied as she converted a third and booked a fourth-round meeting with former world No. 2 Paula Badosa.

Thanking the substantial Serbian crowd, Danilovic is projected to rise to No. 41 following this tournament—a Top 50 debut all but assured—a career-best major result could see her move even farther up the rankings in the next 48 hours.