Jones left in tears as players battle injuries & cramp in Melbourne

Images courtesy of Getty

Jonathan Jurejko

Melbourne newscaster for BBC Sport tennis

ago, one hour ago

Francesca Jones, a Brit, sobbed loudly on the court as her injury sapped her chances of winning the Australian Open’s main draw for the first time.

On day two of Melbourne, men’s eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and qualifier Marina Stakusic, who were both taken off court in a wheelchair, were both forced to retire due to cramps.

From the beginning of her first-round match against Polish qualifier Linda Klimovicova on Monday, the British number three struggled to get through.

The distraught 25-year-old valiantly attempted to continue, but came out on top with a 2 2 2 3 advantage.

Jones missed a game at last week’s Auckland International due to a groin injury, but it was because of her glute problem, which caused her to withdraw from Klimovicova.

At the conclusion of the first set, she took a medical timeout, and the physio followed her through the third and fifth games of the second set.

In the fifth game, the world number 71 broke his heart and was sobbing as he was being treated.

As Jones limped off with a towel over her head, the crowd applauded sympathetically on the court.

Jones has defied the odds to compete against the best, thanks to a rare genetic condition that causes her to have a modified grip.

After a challenging 2024, when she discovered herself outside the top 150 of the world, Jones intended to retire in 2025.

Instead, she had a transformative season that gave her newfound vigor.

Auger-Aliassime stifled by cramp, “I don’t have answers.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime walks off court at the Australian Open

Although it was common for players to compete in much higher temperatures, the temperature in Melbourne was 30C. The Australian Open’s heat stress scale indicates that 1.4 out of five games are considered “temperature playing conditions.”

The group that included Canada’s Auger-Aliassime in the Australian Open was confident that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz would challenge for the men’s title.

After finishing last season in style, including a run to the US Open semi-finals, the 25-year-old rose into the top five.

Despite facing Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the opening set, he fell at the first hurdle in Melbourne.

After quitting with a score of 3-6 6-4 6-4, Auger-Aliassime said, “I can’t recall ever in my life that this]happening this], this early in a tournament, this match.”

The dramatic Stakusic-related dramatic scenes were driven by ramping.

The 127-year-old world number lost to Priscilla Hon in the third set of her first-round match against Canada.

Stakusic’s leg spasm, which she had to stop when she was trailing 1-6, 6-4, 5-3, did not improve with an ice rubdown.