Emerson Jones achieves rare feat at Traralgon Junior International | 16 January, 2024 | All News | News and Features | News and Events

For only the third time in the past 15 years, an Australian player has advanced to the girls’ singles final at the Traralgon Junior International.

Traralgon, Australia, 16 January 2024 | Leigh Rogers

Jones is currently Australia’s top-ranked junior, sitting at a career-high world No.9 in the ITF World Tennis Tour junior rankings.

The National Tennis Academy athlete has blitzed through the field this week, conceding only a single set across her five matches.

This sets up a final clash with American Iva Jovic, a 16-year-old ranked No.11.

The annual ITF J300 event is one of the biggest junior events held in Australia and attracts many of the world’s top-ranked players ahead of the Australian Open Junior Championships.

Past champions include Roger Federer, Ash Barty, Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios and Iga Swiatek.

Pavle Marinkov, a 17-year-old from Sydney, was hoping to join that illustrious honour roll. However, his quest ended with a three-set semifinal loss to Norway’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer.

Lily Taylor and Gabrielle Villegas’ winning run in the girls’ doubles competition also came to an end, losing a thriller against the top seeds in the semifinals.

> READ: Wildcards announced for Australian Open 2024 Junior Championships

Aussies in action – Traralgon

TODAY’S RESULTS
Girls’ singles, semifinals
[2] Emerson Jones (AUS) d Monika Stankiewicz (POL) 5-7 7-5 6-2

Boys’ singles, semifinals
[2] Nicolai Budkov Kjaer (NOR) d [14] Pavle Marinkov (AUS) 2-6 6-4 6-3

Girls’ doubles, semifinals
[1] Hannah Klugman (GBR)/Mingge Xu (GBR) d Lily Taylor (AUS)/Gabrielle Villegas (AUS) 3-6 6-4 [14-12]

> VIEW: AGL Loy Yang Traralgon Junior International draws

COMING UP
Girls’ singles, final
[2] Emerson Jones (AUS) v [4] Iva Jovic (USA)

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