Fran Jones has emulated Emma Raducanu’s feat of qualifying for the US Open without dropping a set after following Carlos Alcaraz to Ibiza. The British No.4 was immediately congratulated by her close friend Raducanu after reaching the main draw in New York for the first time.
The 2021 US Open champion also came through three qualifying matches without dropping a set here – and then another seven in the main draw – to become the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam title. “What she did I don’t think will ever be repeated but I’ll be happy to fall into some of those footsteps for sure,” Jones laughed. “She said good luck before the match and texted her congratulations just now.
“We speak every day. It’s not about tennis necessarily. If there’s something that’s bothering me or bothering her then we’ll discuss it. We have a really open relationship in that sense. But yeah, we don’t really talk about tennis and I think that’s why it worked.”
Jones, 24, has yet to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam – and lost in the third round of qualifying at the French Open. So after winning the WTA 125 on clay in Palermo last month, she took a break in the Balearics like the Spanish superstar each summer.
“I thought I’d try the Alcaraz strategy so I went to Ibiza for a few days,” she said. “It worked. so we can’t complain can we? I’m a night owl but clubbing is not for me. I did go to Ushuaïa, which is the outdoor DJ concert thing, but I was back in the room at 12.”
After beating Arianne Hartona 6-2 6-4 to bank at least $110,000 for reaching the first round, Jones immediately called her parents. But Surrey-based Simon and Adele will not travel over for her US Open debut because they are looking after their two golden retrievers.
“They are very precious – the dogs are more important than me!” joked the world No.86.
Sonay Kartal will be looking for lightning to strike twice at the US Open after marking her Wimbledon run with a thunderstorm tattoo. Her fourth round match Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was preceded by a “rumble of thunder” above the Centre Court roof.
And the British No.3 has inked the moment into her right forearm with a tattoo of a lightning bolt coming out of a cloud. The world No.51, who faces No.18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round, recalled: “As soon as the gates opened for the walk onto court, there was a massive thunder rumble.
“I can look down on that and it takes me into that moment a little bit. That is maybe 15 or 16 tattoos now.”