Keeping up with Fran Jones: the tennis star refusing to let rare condition define her

After a breakout week in Auckland that saw her defeat world No 15 Emma Navarro, injury that has dogged the 25-year-old’s career has bitten again

During the first weeks of last year’s clay-court season, Francesca Jones found herself fighting through a breathless three-set tussle in Bogotá that was rapidly falling from her grasp. Trailing 3-5 in the final set of her second-round match, an exhausted Jones began her service motion by tossing the ball above her head. As she tried to leap into the air and fire down her serve, however, she staggered forwards and then collapsed to the ground. Two points from defeat, she was steered off the court in a wheelchair.

This was an extreme experience for Jones, but it was also painfully reflective of her career until that point. Her biggest adversary has so often been her own body. In 2024 alone, she contested 20 tournaments – seven of those tournaments ended in a mid-match retirement and she also withdrew mid-tournament from another event. In 40% of the tournaments she took part in that year, her body simply did not allow her to play tennis. Continue reading...