Gold Coast, Australia, 10 September 2024 | Leigh Rogers

Emerson Jones creates history this week, becoming the first Australian to top the ITF World Tennis Tour junior girls’ rankings in more than 25 years.

The 16-year-old from the Gold Coast is the first to achieve this feat since Jelena Dokic in 1998.

She is also the first Aussie girl to reach world No.1 since the ITF introduced combined junior rankings, which take into account both singles and doubles performances, in 2004.

The previous best performer was Ash Barty, who peaked at world No.2 in 2011.

Jones has been rewarded for her consistent results on the ITF junior tour this season, where she has won 28 of her 36 singles matches.

Her highlights include becoming the first Australian in 16 years to progress to an Australian Open girls’ singles final.

She also created history at the other Grand Slam events, becoming the first Australian in 10 years to reach a Roland Garros’ girls’ doubles semifinal and the first Australian in 13 years to make a Wimbledon girls’ singles final.

At the US Open, Jones made the third round in the girls’ singles event before bowing out against the eventual champion.

“I don’t really think about my ranking or how high I’m going to go, it just comes with the results,” Jones told tennis.com.au earlier this year. “I just focus on my matches.”

Jones has already experienced success at professional level too, advancing to Australian Pro Tour finals at Caloundra in August 2023 and Swan Hill in March earlier this year.

Sam Stosur, Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup captain, is among those impressed by Jones’ potential.

“She hits a good ball. She hits it hard, she hits it deep,” Stosur said during Wimbledon.

“She’s not very big, but she gets some pretty good pace off of her racquet. I think she’s got a bright future.”

Jones trains at Tennis Australia’s National Tennis Academy in Brisbane, where she is coached by Stosur’s former mentor, Dave Taylor.

Her mother, Loretta, is a former triathlete and won an Olympic silver medal at Athens 2004, while her father, Brad, was an outstanding footballer who starred in the QAFL.

“She’s got some good genes in her family” Stosur noted. “They know what hard work is in professional sport.”

Jones’ older brother, 17-year-old Hayden, is a promising tennis player too and is currently Australia’s top-ranked junior boy at world No.12.

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