Britain's Francesca Jones has checked off a series of milestones over the past two months - and she will achieve another at the US Open on Tuesday.
US Open 2025
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 24 August-7 September
Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website & app
Britain's Francesca Jones has checked off a series of milestones over the past two months.
Just over six weeks ago, the 24-year-old won the biggest title of her career at a WTA 125 event in Contrexeville, France.
A second triumph at that level - the rung below the main tour - swiftly followed in Palermo.
That led to her cracking the world's top 100 for the first time, ultimately moving up to 86th in the rankings.
Now, she has secured a maiden main draw appearance at the US Open after coming through three rounds of qualifying as the top seed.
Jones, who meets German Eva Lys on Tuesday in New York, has had a productive season.
She secured wins at WTA 75 events in Varcaria and Prague, qualified for her first WTA 1000 event in Madrid and earned wins on the WTA Tour events at Nottingham and Eastbourne.
Compatriots Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal also begin their campaigns on day three at Flushing Meadows, with British number two Boulter taking on Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk and Kartal facing a tricky task in Brazil's world number 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Having come through three rounds of qualifying in New York to reach the main draw, Jones was keen to call parents Adele and Simon, who are back home in the UK.
Why weren't they watching their daughter in person? Because they could not get a dog sitter.
"My parents don't get to travel with me everywhere so I made sure I can share those moments with them as soon as I can," Jones told BBC Sport after sealing her place in the main draw in New York.
"I want them to feel as part of it as possible, considering how much they've sacrificed to give me opportunities.
"They're not here because a dog sitter wasn't available – the dogs come first!"
Jones was born with a genetic condition which means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, three toes on her right foot and four toes on her left.
Doctors told the Yorkshire-born player to forget about playing tennis professionally - but she beat the odds after moving to Spain as a teenager.
Learning her craft on the clay was a different path to many Britons, and her way into the US Open main draw has been typically unconventional.
Jones was the top seed in the women's qualifying draw after just falling short of the cut-off date for automatic entry.
"I've always done things differently - so why should I change now?" Jones said.
In the men's event, British number six Billy Harris fell at the final qualifying hurdle - but ended up in the main draw anyway as a lucky loser.
The 30-year-old, who had never reached the US Open main draw before, will face Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Meanwhile, world number 60 Jacob Fearnley will also make his main draw debut at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday when he faces Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut.
Category: General Sports
