Queensland teenager and world No.1 junior Emerson Jones pulls off a shocking upset in her Adelaide Worldwide debut.
Adelaide, Australia, 6 January 2025 | AAP
Emerson Jones is like many teenaged ladies: headstrong.
And Australia’s celebrated tennis teen stated it was a key to her success after she took down a top-50-ranked participant for the primary time.
The 16-year-old from the Gold Coast swept apart China’s world No.37 Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-0 on the Adelaide Worldwide on Monday.
“At first of the match, as a result of I’ve by no means performed a top-50 participant earlier than, I used to be like a bit cautious of how good she was, so I wasn’t fairly certain,” stated Jones, the world No.373.
“However because the match went on I used to be like ‘I’ve acquired this – if I actually play properly, I’ve acquired an opportunity’.”
Jones, who completed final yr because the top-ranked world junior, dominated in her victory in opposition to world No.37 Wang in simply 71 minutes.
Jones, the daughter of Olympic triathlon silver medallist Loretta Harrop, is a wildcard entrant in Adelaide and in addition has a wildcard for the looming Australian Open
She exited within the first spherical of AO qualifying final yr – and was runner-up within the ladies’ singles match – however now boasts extra weapons in contrast with 12 months in the past.
“Mentally I’ve improved lots from final yr,” stated Jones, coached by Carlos Cuadrado.
“I’ve acquired no expectations taking part in in these high-level tournaments so I simply play each recreation as arduous as I can.
“I simply have to organize properly … taking part in extra matches and making an attempt to inform myself earlier than each single match that I must be mentally good.
“As a result of that’s most likely largely what tennis is about: whoever is essentially the most headstrong will most likely be the best.”
Requested if she was headstrong, Jones replied: “I’ve come a good distance from the place I used to be however I’ve nonetheless acquired numerous enchancment to do.”
Jones, who turns 17 in July, is the primary Australian girl since Jelena Dokic some 26 years in the past to change into world junior No.1.
She is going to meet No.3 seed Daria Kasatkina within the subsequent spherical in Adelaide after Russia’s world No.9 defeated Australian wildcard Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-3.
And Jones will proceed to sidestep comparisons to Australian nice Ash Barty and their respective junior achievements.
“I discover it actually thrilling that individuals say ‘she did this and that’ and I’m following in her footsteps,” Jones stated.
“However I simply assume we’re all on our completely different journeys and I simply need to see how I am going. Clearly Ash Barty was wonderful so it could be very arduous to maintain up with that.”
Discover your technique to play: Go to play.tennis.com.au to hit the court docket and have some enjoyable!
