Australian Open 2025: ‘Scary’ Australian teen has eye of the tigress – and mum on her side – as Emerson Jones’s diary fills up
Teenage sensation Emerson Jones has drawn Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open. It will be the introduction to the public of a prodigious talent. Organisers could go the whole hog and plonk the 16-year-old on Rod Laver Arena.
Emerson Jones’s diary is filling up fast. The biggest week of her spectacularly promising career took another twist on Thursday when the Australian Open draw was revealed on the steps of Margaret Court Arena. The mega-talented teen will experience the bright lights and electrifying atmosphere of a first-round match against ex-Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
It will be the introduction to the Australian public of a sprightly young talent. Organisers could go the whole hog and plonk her on Rod Laver Arena. Give the 16-year-old the night of her life. The world No.1 junior is the daughter of one of Australia’s toughest athletes, the triathlete Loretta Harrop, who strained every muscle and fibre to win a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Emerson has emerged as Australia’s most talented young female player since Ash Barty won junior Wimbledon – and now she’s about to be front and centre at her home slam at Melbourne Park.
On the comparisons to her fellow Queenslander and the prototype for pocket rockets, the beloved Barty, Jones says: “I find it really exciting that people say, ‘She did this and that’ and I’m following in her footsteps. But I just think we’re all on our different journeys and I just want to see how I go. Obviously, Ash Barty was amazing. It would be very hard to keep up with that.”
Having a famous mum has nothing to do with Jones’s ability to hit deliciously sweet forehands and backhands, and yet it might explain the tenacity of the girl. Harrop was a ferocious trainer and supreme competitor. A gold medal looked hers for the taking until Austrian Kate Allen, who was born and raised near Geelong, squeezed past with a couple of hundred metres to go. Four years later, Harrop brought Emerson into the world.
Daughter and mum have one strikingly similar quality. The eye of the tigress. Emerson is only three apples high but athleticism and a willingness to engage in the fight will take her far. She beat China’s world No.37 Xinyu Wang at this week’s Adelaide International for her first win on the WTA Tour and then against Russia’s world No.9 Daria Kasatkina, she skipped through the first two games without losing a point before falling to an meritorious 7-5 6-3 loss.
“It was a pretty intense match,” Kasatkina said. “She’s got really good tennis. I’m already a bit scared, to be honest. She’s just 16.”
Jones’s breakthrough win against Xinyu was one small step through the Adelaide International draw but one giant leap up the rankings. She’s set to rise from the world No.373 slot to somewhere in the 200s next week.
Receiving a wildcard into the Australian Open guarantees at least $132,000 in prizemoney, which ain’t bad for a 16-year-old, and another flying jump up the rankings.
Bridget Jones’s Diary states “It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going OK, another falls spectacularly to pieces” – but everything’s exclusively on the up for Emerson. Kazakhstan’s Rybakina won Wimbledon in 2022 and lost a thrilling Australian Open championship match to Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka the following year. Her coach, Stefan Vukov, is at the centre of a WTA investigation into his treatment of the player. It’s unclear whether Rybakina or a third party lodged the complaint. He will be coaching Rybakina from afar – his application for accreditation to the Open has been rejected.
Another Australian, the Gold Coast-based 18-year-old Maya Joint, has talent to burn and drew a similarly high-profile match against seventh-seeded American Jessica Pegula. Joining Jones and Joint at the Open will be Melbourne’s 23-year-old Destanee Aiava, the former world-best teenager who has been through major mental health battles for most of her life. She recorded a stirring win in the final round of qualifying on Thursday.
Court 3 was packed and loud as if the real Open had begun. All support was for Aiava. After three years of heartbreaking close losses in qualifying, she fell to her knees, put her hands to her head and used her sweatbands to wipe away tears when she beat Germany’s Eva Lys 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
“I’m speechless,” Aiava said. “I’ve worked so hard for this.”
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