Fran Jones bows out of her Grand Slam debut in Melbourne

Fran Jones lost in straight sets against a dominant Shelby Rogers, who carried on her recent good form. Jones made the Australian Open through the qualifiers, and can hold her head high, as her singles journey comes to an end in Melbourne.

On paper, the result will not come as a surprise, but in tennis, the game is not played on paper. Fran Jones is ranked 245th in the WTA Rankings, while her opponent Rogers, is 57th. However, Rogers has been in fine form since the tennis restart. It was a close first set, but in the second, the 28-year old American took control, and saw out a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Slow start

Many eyes were on Jones, as she made her Grand Slam debut at this years Australian Open. She earned her spot in the AO through the qualifiers, and she gave her all in the match. However, Jones made very slow starts in each set, with Rogers leading 3-0 in both. Jones is known for her determination, and she fought back well in the first, but ultimately, she gave herself too much of a mountain to climb.

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It will be a big lesson for Jones, who has rarely played against any top 100 players. The slow start, and errors came as she tried to play on the front foot, and dominate the rallies. Although it didn’t work for the entire match, it a sign of what she can do, and something for her and her coaching team to look at for future games.

Rodgers fine attack

Jones struggled to deal with Rodgers attack, and it is the type of play that the 20 year-old will be aspiring towards. In the second set, Rodgers was dominant, and forced Jones to play on the back foot. Jones defensive play was OK, but not enough to turn points around.

Rogers has been on a good spell since the restart, which has seen her beat knock Petra Kvitova out of the US Open, and an impressive win against Serena Williams in the Top Seed Open. Since the restart, she is 7-4 up, against players in the top 100, which considering her ranking, and the fact two of the losses were against Barty and Osaka, is an impressive record.

What Next

For Jones, she will return home gaining much experience, and with a lot to learn from. She handled herself well, and should not be disheartened to lose this match. At 20 years-old, she has a lot of years ahead of her, and to gain this Grand-Slam experience at a young age, will be invaluable.

Rogers will face another qualifier in round 2, in the shape of Olga Danilovic. This is Danilovic’s Grand-Slam debut too, but she has had a great start, knocking out 16th seed Martic, in a close encounter. Rogers will need to keep up her good play to keep progressing.