Young women take centre stage on Saturday at the Australian Open with a rising star bidding to dethrone the reigning champion in the women’s final, and an Aussie teenager going for glory in the girls’ singles. Follow live!
Before world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka faces China’s Qinwen Zheng in the day’s main event, Aussie eyes will turn to the juniors as 15-year-old Emerson Jones tries to break a 29-year drought for local girls.
Jones, from the Gold Coast, claimed a 6-4 6-1 win over Bulgarian 16th seed Iva Ivanova on Friday afternoon to qualify for the final.
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Remarkably she won just hours after defeating Japanese No.2 seed Sara Saito in three sets in her quarter-final – having been 1-4 down in the opening set when play was halted due to rain on Thursday.
Jones is just the second Australian girl since Jessica Moore in 2008 to qualify for the final at Melbourne Park, and trying to become the first Aussie winner since 1995, when Siobhan Drake-Brockman defeated compatriot Annabel Elwood.
In a potentially promising sign for Jones’ future, the last Australian to win a girls’ singles major title was Ash Barty at Wimbledon in 2011.
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The Aussie, whose brother made the quarter-finals of the boys singles, faces top seeded-Slovakian Renata Jamichova from midday.
“It’s great as I didn’t expect this at all coming into it, but it is a great feeling, especially in my home slam,” Jones said.
“I feel confident in my game. I feel like I’m playing pretty well right now and mentally I’m a lot better than I was a few months ago.”
Follow the Australian Open in our live blog below!
DAY 14 ORDER OF PLAY (Notable matches, all times AEDT)
Rod Laver Arena
Junior Girls’ Singles Final, 12pm
No.1 Renata Jamrichova (SVK) vs No.6 Emerson Jones (AUS)
Women’s Singles Final, 7:30pm
No.12 Qinwen Zheng (CHN) vs No.2 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
Men’s Doubles Final
Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (ITA) vs No.2 Rohan Bopanna (IND) and Matt Ebden (AUS)
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