Gold Coast super talent Emerson Jones is two wins away from breaking a 30-year title drought after surging into the Australian Open junior semi-finals in Melbourne.
The top-seeded Jones fought back from a set down to defeat Austrian Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-2 6-2 on Thursday to remain on track to become the first Australian since Siobhan Drake-Brockman in 1995 to win the girls’ title at Melbourne Park.
Runner-up in both the Australian Open and Wimbledon girls’ finals last year, Jones is the world’s top-ranked junior and already drawing comparisons to retired great Ash Barty.
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The teenager will face Japan’s Wakana Sonobe after the fourth seed overcame another Australian, Tahlia Kokkinis, in their quarter-final, 6-2 6-4 later on Thursday.
Queensland 16-year-old Kokkinis, who was handed a wildcard entry into the junior girls’ singles tournament, was unable to keep her giant-killing streak going.
After being outplayed in the first set Kokkinis broke her more fancied rival to take a 4-2 lead in the second.
But a medical timeout interrupted her flow and Sonobe struck back, breaking the home hope to level at 4-4 and then again to wrap up the victory.
More to come…
