Home favourite Jones standing in way of Jamrichova and AO silverware
This being Australia Day, it was perhaps fitting that a home player made it through to a major final at the 2024 Australian Open Junior Championships.
As Court No. 3 filled to the brim, and roughly only three hours after winning her quarter-final against the No. 2 seed Sara Saito on the same patch, 15-year-old Queenslander Emerson Jones put nerves firmly to one side as she breezed past Iva Ivanova to reach the Australian Open girls' final.
She is a fighter, jaunty, thrusting and always on her toes, the Bulgarian simply did not know what hit her as Jones progrssed in exactly one hour, 6-4 6-1.
Next up - in the first match on Rod Laver Arena at midday on Saturday - Jones will face No.1 seed Renata Jamrichova from Slovakia. It is the most ominous of tasks but Jones has visibly grown in self belief thisweek. They have not played before but Jones will rate her chances.
“I will give it my all tomorrow, I wouldn't say I am the favourite to win it,” said Jones. “She’s a lefty, with a lot of spin and slice. I played her in doubles in England but not in singles.”
Jamrichova’s semi-final was not without drama as she overcame Japan’s Ena Koike 6-4 3-6 6-3. She had not dropped a set all week and when there is a need to push, that is when you learn the most said her coach, Jan Matus, afterwards.
“I was a set up and up the first three games in the second set - I had chance for 3-0 but then I was 0-3,” Jamrichova said.
“Then in the third set it was 3-0 for me and then 3-3 and I was starting to be a bit nervous. But I was like ‘just do your best’ and leave the court with the feeling that you did everything you could.”
She is delighted to be in the final after losing in the last four at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2023.
“I am so excited but so nervous at the same time but I am just going to enjoy that time," she said.
Jamrichova is a formidable opponent with seemingly little weakness and an aggressive all-round game, her powerful left-handed forehand a particular boon.
This is her first tournament of the season - she declined to take part in the major AO warm-up event at Traralgon due to its high 64 player draw - and has her sights firmly set on a career on the senior tour.
Success in the juniors is not always a trusted indicator of sfuture success but Jamrichova comes across as rounded and grounded. She will stay in Australia to play two W60 tournaments in Tasmania and is without question a player to remember.
The semi-finals though were only part of the day’s story with two rain delayed quarter-finals to be finished first with Jones overturning an overnight deficit to get past Saito and Ivanova an easy winner over Mingge Xu.
Later, Jones gasped and put her hands over her mouth on the winning point against Ivanova and gave away her cap to a small boy in the crowd before signing tennis ball after tennis ball.
She was all fizz, borderline giggly at her press conference and indeed as you would be heading into your home Grand Slam final.
“It’s great, I did not expect this at all coming into the week but it’s a great feeling,” she said.
“I feel confident in my game a lot more, I am playing pretty well right now and mentally it’s a lot better than I was a couple of months ago.”
An hour post-match spent catching up on congrats texts from friends and family plus the standard ice bath will serve her well before the real big time begins on Saturday.
Jamrichova will, deservedly, be the favourite but if Jones can replicate the all-court movement that has served her so well this week then we will be in for a treat.
A full list of results from the 2024 Australian Open Junior Championships is available here.