British tennis is enjoying a period of unprecedented progression at the moment, with stars on both the men’s and women’s sides seemingly edging towards regular title pushes.
Beyond that is a chasing pack who are improving with each passing week, with the next generation just below them.
Success breeds success, and with Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu leading the way, as the two British number ones, there is reason for fans of British tennis to be supremely optimistic.
Especially given what has just happened with another of their stars, reaching a milestone that is, to date, the best of her career thus far.
In fact, it is so impressive that Raducanu has taken to social media to praise Fran Jones.
Emma Raducanu tells British star she’s proud of her
After all, it was once the 22-year-old seeking to break through in this way, with small milestones eventually culminating in her US Open triumph.
And whilst that was the outlier, and a story that few in the history of the sport will ever replicate, Raducanu remains a beacon of hope for her compatriots that it is possible.
Even now, Raducanu has beaten Maria Sakkari to reach the Washington Open semi-finals. Her progression is steady but evident.
Jones will be hoping that she might one day be able to follow in such lofty footsteps, and is certainly on the right path, having just broken into the WTA’s top 100 for the very first time.
This marks a huge moment for the 24-year-old, and a great opportunity to now push on deeper into this territory.
Who is Fran Jones?
Jones is still so young, yet boasts plenty of experience that perhaps belies her age.
After all, she has played over 350 professional matches, with eight ITF titles and one WTA 125 event to her name.
These are respectable figures for a player who is seemingly only getting better, with her emergence into the top 100 evidence of this progression.
Jones made her Grand Slam debut back in 2021, having come through qualifying. She lost in the first round, but impressed to even reach the main draw at the age of just 21.
Last year marked the real breakthrough for the Brit though, who reached a second career quarter-final at the Nottingham Open, beating eighth seed Caroline Dolehide and Ashlyn Krueger before being forced to withdraw from her match against Raducanu before even taking to the court due to a shoulder injury.
As such, she was gifted a wildcard for Wimbledon, but lost in three tough sets to Petra Martic.
This year has only seen Jones continue that development, making her debut at the Masters 1000 level in Madrid.
Fitness has failed her at crucial moments, but this is a player regularly reaching the latter stages of WTA 125 events. She will be keen to continue impressing at this level, ready to make the step up to regularly competing at 250s and beyond when the time is right.
