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22 August 2025
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
Less than a couple of minutes after reaching the US Open main draw for the first time, Francesca Jones rummaged in her racquet bag and grabbed her mobile phone.
The 24-year-old Briton wanted to ring her parents Adele and Simon, who are back home in the UK.
Why weren’t they watching their daughter in New York? Because they could not get a dog sitter.
Sharing the elation of coming through three rounds of qualifying was Jones’ instant reaction to beating Dutch opponent Arianne Hartono.
“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!”
After sealing her 6-2 6-4 victory with an ace, Jones covered her face with joy and ran over to hug the members of her team sitting courtside.
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.
Since then, she has cracked the world’s top 100 for the first time, moving up to 86th after winning back-to-back titles on the WTA 125 tour – the rung below the main tour.
“I’ve always done things differently – so why should I change now?” Jones said.
The successful run has came on the back of a painful Wimbledon exit.
Jones, who has never won a main-draw Grand Slam match, held a commanding position against Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva before losing 1-6 6-3 6-1.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity, or heading to the practice courts, she chose to get back to match action straight away – promptly winning the 125 events in France and Italy.
“Wimbledon was extremely hurtful and previously I’ve not dealt with those situations well,” added the Bradford-born Jones.
“But it’s your choice how you back up that situation. Previously I’ve taken time to get over it, but this year I felt I needed to be efficient, using maturity and experience.
“I stuck to my guns and did want I felt was best for my career.”
Jones joins fellow Britons Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal in the women’s singles main draw, which begins on Sunday.
Jones could have been pitted against her close friend Raducanu when the qualifiers were placed in the draw, but instead faces Germany’s Eva Lys.
Raducanu will play Japan’s Ena Shibahara when the 2021 champion gets the tournament under way on Louis Armstrong Stadium at 11:00 local time (16:00 BST).
Harris beaten – buts gets lucky loser spot
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 was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong, before joining Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley as Britain’s men’s singles representatives.
Harris, who had never reached the US Open main draw before, will face Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
A lucky loser is a player picked out to replace someone who withdraws from the tournament after the qualifying event has started.
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, Japan’s Kei Nishikori and France’s Arthur Fils all pulled out of the main draw this week.
World number five Draper, who reached the semi-finals last year, has discovered his opening opponent after being drawn against a qualifier or lucky loser.
The 23-year-old Englishman will play Argentine qualifier Federico Agustin Gomez, who earlier this year opened up about having suicidal thoughts before returning to Grand Slam tennis.
