Rooting for Francesca Jones

An interview with the British player's parents after scoring her first win at a major

When Francesca Jones finally scored the first win of her grand slam career, she immediately looked to her parents in the crowd. Then she held her head in her hands briefly, before bursting into tears.

There was more raw emotion when she hustled over to the stands and shared a big group hug with her mum and dad. This had been a long time coming.

Jones and her mother Adele share a hug

This was Jones’s seventh time in the first round of a major tournament. In all six previous efforts she had fallen short, most recently in Melbourne in January, when she was distraught after being forced to retire mid-match through an injury sustained on court.

A few months later, she suffered a concussion in a freak accident at the gym, and was worried her progress on tour (which saw her reach a career-high 65 in the rankings last year) would be quickly undone.

So Sunday represented more than just a first round win, or a £112,300 payday (though that will come in handy). It was yet another measure of Jones’s resilience.

“Normally I’m one to say you shouldn’t cry until the tournament is over, but I think everything I’ve been through this year, it’s really been challenging,” she said. “I think [it has been] really tough on my parents, throughout the whole concussion process and all that. They’ve been on the other side of the world. It was in the US, so it’s tough for them, different time zones, calling from hospitals, and not understanding bloody American medical insurance shite.

“I think they’ve just suffered with me, even from a distance. Of course, you can look at the bigger picture, but truly the emotion for me isn’t about the bigger picture. It’s much more about how tough this year has been. I’m just glad that I dug deep.”

It was all the more appropriate that it arrived on clay, in her first main draw appearance at Roland Garros.

Jones was only 10 years old when she upped sticks, leaving her Bradford home and family to train at Sánchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona. She not only needed to adapt to a new language, new people and a new place, but also a new surface. She found a way, as she always has, and was forged on the clay of Catalonia.

In Paris on Sunday she ground out a comeback win for the ages. Despite trailing 1-6 1-4, she somehow beat Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, a former top 10 player, 1-6 7-6 6-2.

I’ve interviewed Jones a couple of times over the last two years and she is a great conversationalist, interested in the world beyond the tennis bubble and incredibly generous with her time.

Francesca Jones breaks 100

She also has a remarkable personal story. Jones has ectrodactyly ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic syndrome which – among other things – means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, seven toes in total and has undergone multiple surgeries during her life and career.

As a child, she was told by doctors that picking up a tennis racket was not a good idea, let alone dreaming of professional tennis. Some coaches said similar. But she pursued her dream anyway.

Last year she broke through to the top 100 (which I marked on this Substack by sharing an expansive interview with Jones) after clinching two WTA 125 titles.

She said this win in Paris was further evidence that the so-called experts were wrong to write her off, but was not satisfied by reaching the second round. She will give it her all against 27th seed Marie Bouzkova on Wednesday.

“If we go back to the fact that I was told I couldn’t play tennis, when you’re winning matches in the main draws of slams and beating someone that was 10 in the world, that’s – you know, it kind of nips you in the bud a bit,” she said. “Of course, it’s a monumental moment, but don’t get me wrong, I’ll be going after the next match.”

Jones is an easy person to root for, and her parents have been doing that since day dot. Both Adele and Simon were in the stands on Court 14, enduring the heavy heat and living every single point with their daughter.

They were bursting with pride as they exited the stands, and fans around them who had clocked onto the fact they were Jones’s parents were reaching to shake their hands and saying congratulations.

Before they headed off to celebrate, myself and a couple of colleagues grabbed a quick chat with them. What was the hug like at the end? “Wet and sweaty!” Jones’s mum Adele said with a laugh, before adding: “She really deserves it because it’s been a tough year.

“She kept believing in herself. She’s had such a bad year with all the injuries and everything. It’s just maintaining that belief, and that’s what we’re trying to say to her then at the side of the court: ‘just believe.’ We don’t coach, we don’t know anything about tennis, just believe in your body, believe in yourself.”

Both Adele and Jones’s father joked that they had to restrain themselves from cheering too loudly, or at the wrong time, throughout the match. As the tension rose in the third set, they allowed themselves a few “c’mon Franny” cheers though.

“I get told off all the time, and I will do now,” Simon told us jokingly. “I always say the wrong things, but she can hear us. That’s the main thing. She’s such a fighter. She always has been.”

Adele added: “She went like that [gesturing down, at match point, like], ‘Shh, don’t say a word now’ because if it goes to 5-3, it’s gonna be our fault! We’re so proud of her. Just so happy for her. She really deserves this.”

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For more on Jones, here’s my interview with her, which we filmed last November.

Molly x