AAP Tennis

Aussie Jones powers into Open junior girls' semi-finals

By AAP Newswire

Jan 23, 2025

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.

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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.

Emerson Jones during her Australian Open junior girls' quarter-final win on Thursday. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

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.

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.

Queenslander Tahlia Kokkinis has fallen at the quarter-final stage of the girls tournament. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

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 time-out interrupted her flow and Sonobe struck back, breaking the home hope to level at 4-4 and then again to wrap up the victory.

By AAP Newswire

Australian Associated Press