AND
Set the text size to small
AND
Set the default text size
AND
Set the text size to large
Emerson Jones is like most teenage girls: stubborn. A fascinated Australian tennis player claimed it was the important thing to her success after beating a top-50 ranked tennis player for the first time.
On Monday, the 16-year-old from the Gold Coast defeated Chinese world No. 37 Wang Xinyu 6-4, 6-0 on the Adelaide International tournament.
“At the beginning of the match, because I had never played against a top-50 player before, I was a little worried about how good she was, so I wasn’t really sure,” said Jones, ranked 373rd on the earth.
“But as the game went on I thought, ‘I’ve got this – if I play really well, I’ll get a chance’.”
Jones, who finished last yr as the world’s top junior player, dominated in her victory over world No. 37 Wang in only 71 minutes.
Jones accepted a wildcard to play in Adelaide as Australian officials continued their desire to quickly track down the prodigious talent.
Jones, the daughter of Olympic triathlon silver medalist Loretta Harrop, also has a wild card entry into the upcoming Australian Open.
Last yr in Melbourne she lost within the first round and was beaten as a finalist in the women’ tournament, but now she boasts a further weapon in comparison with 12 months ago.
“Mentally, I’ve improved a lot from last year,” said Jones, who was coached by Sam Stosur’s former mentor David Taylor.
I have no expectations in the case of acting at a high level in tournaments, so I just play every match as hard as I can.
“I just need to prepare well… play more matches and tell myself before each match that I have to be mentally good.
“Because that’s probably what tennis is all about: whoever is the most stubborn is probably going to be the best.”
Emerson Jones plays forehand. (Photo: Mark Brake/Getty Images)
When asked if she was stubborn, Jones replied, “I’ve come a long way from where I was, but I still have a lot of room to improve.”
Jones, who turns 17 in July, is the first Australian since Jelena Dokic some 26 years ago to develop into world No. 1 in juniors.
She will face third-seeded Daria Kasatkina in the subsequent round in Adelaide, after the ninth-ranked Russian defeated Australian wild card Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-3.
Jones will proceed to avoid comparisons to Australian great Ash Barty and his junior achievements.
“It’s really exciting that people say, ‘she did this and that,’ and I’m following in her footsteps,” Jones said.
“But I feel we’re all on different journeys and I just wish to see the way it goes. Of course, Ash Barty was amazing, so it will be very difficult to maintain up with him.
On Monday, the highest-ranked player to advance was Paula Badosa, world No. 12.
The fifth seed needed almost three hours to defeat rising American Peyton Stearns 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-5.
World No. 25 Yulia Putintseva upset Croatia’s No. 19 and 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3.
© AAP
