16-year-old Australian Emerson Jones smashes world No. 37 Wang Xinyu at Adelaide International
One of Australia’s top young tennis talents has drawn early comparisons to Ash Barty after a romping Round of 32 Adelaide International upset over an opponent ranked 341 spots higher.
Rising Australian tennis sensation Emerson Jones has drawn early comparisons with former world No.1 Ash Barty after a dominant Round of 32 Adelaide International upset over China’s world No. 37 Wang Xinyu.
The 16-year-old from the Gold Coast was ranked as the world’s top junior player last year and quickly showed her ability to match it at the next level with a blistering 6-4, 6-0 victory at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre on Monday.
Entering the tournament as a wildcard, world No.378 Jones’ performance drew comparisons to Australia’s most recent grand slam champion.
“It’s exciting to be compared to Ash Barty and to know she’s done all of this,” Jones said.
“I just think we’re all on our different journeys … I just want to see how I go and focus on myself.”
A Wimbledon girls runner-up last year, Jones currently holds a wildcard into this month’s Australian Open and gave fans a taste of what they could expect from her on the big stage, running Xinyu around the court with blistering backhands and dictating forehand strokes.
She remained mentally strong in a hard-fought first set to twice come back from a break down as well as 40-0 down in the 10th game before executing a second set shut-out through sheer power, poise and athleticism.
“I think mentally I’ve improved a lot from last year … I just play every game as hard as I can.
“At the start of the match I wasn’t quite sure of the level because I’ve never played a top 50 player before but as the match went on, I was kind of like, I’ve got this, if I play really well and focus, I’ve got a chance.
“There was never a time I thought I was going to win, even at five-love I just knew I had to focus on every point.”
Jones will face third seed Daria Ksatkina in the Round of 16 after the Russian world No.9 comfortably defeated Australian Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-3 in her opening clash.
The teenage star said she was ready for an even greater challenge.
“Obviously I’m going to be coming up against a higher ranked player next round and that’s exciting,” she said.
“I just think that if I try to stay mentally strong, as best I can, just play the way I want to play, then I think I’ll be pretty proud of myself.”
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