Jones making mark on clay as she reaches last eight
Nick Spencer |
Rising Australian star Emerson Jones continued to justify her No.1 seeding at the French Open when she moved into the quarter-finals of the girls’ singles with a straight-sets victory over Spain’s Charo Esquiva Banuls.
The 16-year-old from the Gold Coast had already looked impressive on clay this week, beating Capucine Jauffret of the US, and then Czechia’s Vendula Valdmannova, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, both in three sets.
On Wednesday, she saw off Esquiva Banuls, the No.13 seed, 7-5 6-3, in an hour and 24 minutes to move into the last eight, where she will face the US No.9 seed, Julieta Pareja.
After the heat of earlier in the week, conditions were much cooler but Jones thumped 16 winners as she took the first set and nullified the powerful serve of her Spanish opponent.
The second set was more straightforward and she demonstrated her adaptability by winning 11 points out of 14 when she came to the net.
Jones is attempting to become the first Aussie since West Australian Lesley Hunt, 57 years ago, to win a junior tournament at Roland Garros.
Jones is one of four seeds left in the girls’ singles. Another – in the other half of the draw – is her doubles partner, Great Britain’s Hannah Klugman, although the pair were knocked out on Tuesday.
Jones is also chasing a return to the junior world No.1 ranking at Roland Garros, having been knocked off the top by Japan’s Australian Open 2025 girls’ singles champion, Wakana Sonobe.
AAP
