15-year-old Emerson Jones has enjoyed the best day of her young tennis career to reach the Australian Open Girls Singles final at Melbourne Park.
Jones was forced to play her quarter and semi-final on Friday after rain halted play during Thursday’s proceedings.
First up on Court 3, the teenager began trailing 4-1 against second seed Sara Saito, before coming from a set down to record a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory.
After a two-hour break, Jones then backed up to defeat sixteenth seed Iva Ivanova 6-4, 6-1 to reach the 2024 final.
The young Aussie – who competed in her first major at Melbourne Park last Summer – becomes the first Australian girl to reach a junior Grand Slam final since Ash Barty at Wimbledon in 2011.
Incredibly, Jones is also the first local in her category to reach the Australian Open final since Siobhan Drake-Brockman in 1995.
The stellar run comes in a brilliant week for the Jones family, with Emerson’s older brother Hayden also enjoying a career-best campaign at the 2024 event, before bowing out 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-5 in yesterday’s quarterfinal.
Hayden is said to be the confident one of the pair, while Emerson told Tennis Australia she “did not expect” to reach the quarterfinals, let alone the last stage.
The 15-year-old will face top seed Renata Jamrichova in the decider, who will also be making her major final debut after reaching the last four at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2023.
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