Emerson Jones overcomes 21-year age gap to defeat Maria in Brisbane
When the Brisbane International draw came out, one first-round matchup stood out in particular. Emerson Jones, the 17-year-old wild card -- a former junior No. 1 and one of Australia's brightest prospects -- was pitted against Tatjana Maria, the wily 38-year-old whose Queen's title run last summer demonstrated how well she could still outfox players a decade younger than her.
The 21-year age gap between the two players was the largest in a tour-level match in four years -- since a 39-year-old Serena Williams defeated a 17-year-old Lisa Pigato 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of Parma 2021. The largest age gap this decade so far on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz came in the 2020 Australian Open first round, when a 15-year-old Coco Gauff defeated a 39-year-old Venus Williams 7-6(5), 6-3.
In this case, youth triumphed over experience. In front of her family and home crowd, Jones came from a break down in the second set to win 6-3, 6-3, notching her second WTA main-draw win and her second victory over a Top 50 player. (Almost exactly a year ago, she upset Wang Xinyu in Adelaide to score both those milestones for the first time.)
Jones -- currently ranked at a career high of No. 147 -- laughed when asked how much she'd thought about the age gap.
"Maybe a little bit before the match," she said. "I knew that she was experienced and she's played on the tour a lot longer than I have."
Indeed, Maria has played on the tour a lot longer than Jones has even been alive. The German made her pro debut in 2001, and by 2007 she had cracked the Top 100 and begun playing Grand Slam main draws. Jones was born the following year, in July 2008, and is closer in age to Maria's 12-year-old daughter Charlotte than to her opponent on Monday.
But the teenager had prepped as best as she could to overcome the gulf in experience. Ever since the draw came out, coach David Taylor had almost exclusively sliced to her in practise to mimic Maria's idiosyncratic style.
"I think his wrist is a bit sore from hitting slices," Jones said afterwards. "Her game was really tricky to me, so I just tried to stay calm and play aggressive."
That paid off: Jones tallied 34 winners to 24 unforced errors, and did not allow Maria's variety or defensive work to frustrate her. When Maria tried to disrupt the rhythm of the match by rushing the net, Jones was ready; not even Maria's renowned reflexes were enough to counter Jones's sweetly-timed passing shots.
Impressively, Jones also showed some mature match management in the second set. Facing a point to fall behind 3-0, she played one of her most patient points of the day before unloading on a backhand winner. From there, she gradually turned the set around, winning six of the last seven games.
Jones's next test will be a very different one -- indeed, about as different as it's possible to get on tour. She'll face No. 10 seed Liudmila Samsonova and her self-described "I am boom boom!" style of tennis in the second round.