Teen gun Jones cruises through Open juniors first round
Junior world No.1 Emerson Jones has cruised into the second round of the Australian Open girls’ tournament as she attempts to become the first local champion in 30 years.
Jones, 16, eased past Russian qualifier Anastasia Lizunova 6-3 6-3 on Court 3 at Melbourne Park.
Widely considered Australia’s next big thing, Jones rarely looked troubled against Lizunova, knocking the big-hitting Russian over in an hour, including breaking her serve to seal the match.
The Queenslander is attempting to make amends for last year, when she lost the Open final to Renata Jamrichova, who also beat her in the junior Wimbledon decider.
The last local to win the girls’ single title was Siobhan Drake-Brockman in 1995.
It is the longest wait of any of the four slams for a local girls’ champion.
Saturday’s victory was also a pleasing start to Jones’ junior campaign after her main draw debut, as a wildcard, was brought to an abrupt halt by sixth seed Elena Rybakina in the first round.
Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina needed just 53 minutes to complete that 6-1 6-1 mauling.
But Jones underlined her status as one of the world’s top juniors on Saturday, when she headlined a plethora of Australians in action.
Renee Alame joined Jones in the second round but local wildcards Ava Beck and Jizelle Sibai lost.
In the boys’ draw, Cruz Hewitt, son of Australian great Lleyton, was due to play South Korean qualifier MooBeen Kim after Jones’ match.
Wildcards Daniel Jovanovski, Nikolas Baker, Cooper Kose and Ethan Domingo were knocked out.
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