British tennis player born with three fingers and thumb on each hand is one win away from Australian Open

Great Britain’s Francesca Jones is one victory away from a main draw grand slam debut after beating Jana Fett in the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open.

Francesca Jones is one win away from qualifying for the Australian Open.

The 20-year-old from Leeds won a grand slam qualifying match for the first time against Monica Niculescu on Monday and followed that up with a battling 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-1 victory over the Croatian player Fett.

A 69-minute first set went the way of Jones on her third set point, with both players serving a host of double faults, but her opponent fought back to take the second.

Jones roused herself superbly in the third, though, winning five games in a row to clinch victory and a final-round date with China’s Lu Jia-jing.

The British number five, Jones’ progress is especially impressive because she was born with a congenital condition that means she only has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, three toes on one foot and four toes on the other.

Jones was the only one of Great Britain’s five entrants to make it past the opening round of the qualifying events, which are being played in Dubai and Doha to limit the number of players travelling to Australia.

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