8 April 2022 | Tennis Queensland

Sport runs deep through the veins of Gold Coast family the Joneses, with the Queensland locals bringing an athletic lens to ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. From humble beginnings in Coomera Waters, siblings Hayden and Emerson Jones are making their mark on the tennis world, both having recently gained selection in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup (16/u) Team and Junior Davis Cup (16/u) Team respectively. With Emerson also gaining selection in the Australian World Junior Tennis (14/u) girls team set to compete in India later this month.

The sibling duo come from a multi-disciplined sporting background of cricket, karate, AFL, swimming and cross country, with tennis reigning supreme in the Jones household. The Joneses also come from a strong sporting family with mother Loretta Jones (Harrop) a former Olympic silver medalist in triathlon and father Brad Jones a QAFL Grogan medalist.

Eldest sibling Hayden’s love of the game started at a tennis court in Coomera Waters with a cricket bat and ball in hand. That was until tennis coach John Dutton came along and saw potential in the youngster, quickly swapping out his bat for a racquet an inviting him to play in his tennis squad. And as they say, the rest was history! From those early days, Hayden continued to work with Dutton and coach Heath Denman until making it into the National Tennis Academy in Brisbane at 14 years of age.

Younger sister Emerson, is also following in hot pursuit of her brothers footsteps, after quickly discovering that she too had a love of the game after growing up around the courts watching Hayden play.

Loretta Jones, Mother of Hayden and Emerson is, “incredibly proud” of both of her children.

“Both kids are so incredibly different on the court. Hayden is a thinker, whereas Emerson is a doer. Hayden loves working things out and problem solving. Growing up, he was a great chess player and I can see those same skills while he is playing (always thinking). Emerson is a big ball striker; she loves to hit her opponent off the court. She loves her tennis, especially her team tennis and travelling with friends.”

When it comes to goals and dreams for the Gold Coast duo, Mrs Jones says, “They have many.”

“Emerson had a short term goal of making the Australian Team and a long term goal of establishing a good ITF Junior World Ranking. Whereas Hayden wants to be #1 in the World Junior rankings. He’s currently in the Top 100.”

In the life of junior athletes, being a parent is an incredibly important role.  When asked what her one piece of advice for other tennis parents would be, Mrs Jones responded, “It’s important to row your own boat and to not worry about what everyone is doing. Each kid is on their own journey, some are fast, some are slow, some are thinkers and some are doers. Do what’s best for your child.”

Tennis Queensland General Manager Elia Hill says, “Queensland has a rich history of tennis, it is great to see the next generation of Queenslanders representing Team Australia on the world stage. We wish them all the best as they compete in India.”

Hayden & Emerson will represent Australia and #TeamQLD in India later this month.