Emerson Jones compared to Ash Barty, in contention for Australian Open juniors title
Those in the know are confident Emerson Jones is destined for tennis greatness. Will she end a nine-year wait for Australian glory in the Australian Open juniors this year?
Australian teenager Emerson Jones has labelled comparisons with former world No. 1 Ash Barty as “pretty special” but declared she is on her own tennis path.
As Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley predicted the 16-year-old was “tracking to be one of the great players”, Jones said she was not feeling any pressure just days out from her first appearance in the main draw at the Australian Open.
The Queenslander captured plenty of attention in the lead-up to her home grand slam after finishing 2024 as the top-ranked junior in the world.
Jones won a main draw wildcard for the Open after becoming the first Australian junior girl to sit at the top of the world rankings since Jelena Dokic in 1998.
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An impressive run to the round of 16 at the Adelaide International followed, including a victory over Chinese world No. 37 Xinyu Wang.
Jones lost to No.6 seed Elena Rybankina in the opening round at Melbourne Park, going down 6-1, 6-1.
Prior to the match, she said: “I am actually really excited, this will be such great experience for me.
“It’s pretty special to play someone like that, especially at my age. So I am just going to see how I go and give it my best.
“I am not feeling any pressure because this is the best I (have) played pretty much in my matches so I am just really excited to see how I keep going and see if I can keep the level.”
She is one win away from reaching successive Australian Open juniors finals after losing last year’s decider to Renata Jamrichova.
Jones will face Japan’s Sonobe Wakana on Friday in a semi-final as she vies to become Australia’s first junior champion at the home slam since 2016.
Her rise to the top of the world rankings as a junior has led to comparisons with three-time grand slam winner Barty.
Barty this week urged Jones to soak up her Open debut without the pressure of expectation as she hailed the teenager’s passion and professionalism.
Jones, whose older brother Hayden lost in Australian Open qualifying this week, said she was flattered by Barty comparisons, but was focused on making her own path.
“It’s pretty special to be compared to Ash Barty, obviously, but I’m on my own path and on my own journey, so we’ll just see how I go,” Jones said.
“I haven’t spoken to Ash this couple of weeks.
“But I read an article about what she had to say (about me) and it was pretty exciting that she got to say that about me.”
Tiley said Jones reminded him of past Australian greats and predicted her future was bright.
“She is an incredible competitor and it does remind me of some of the other great Australian players that we have had,” Tiley said.
“But, you know, it’s a long journey and she has things to improve in her game and she has got the right team around her and we at Tennis Australia will continue to support her development and her journey and we are excited about what the future (holds for her).
“She is tracking, being No. 1 in the world (juniors) and won as much as she has, she is tracking to be one of the great players, but a lot can happen.”
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