MELBOURNE: Few perceive the strain created by the hype of stripling success like Jelena Dokic, so the previous world No.4, who shocked tennis with a run to the Wimbledon semi finals as a 17-year-old, has no want to make headline grabbing predictions about teen prodigy Emerson Jones.
Jones, who at 16 is the world’s No.1 junior and final week broke by for her first WTA Tour victory by beating prime 50 participant Wang Xinyu, will make her Australian Open major draw debut on Tuesday, with the expectant eyes of a nation already on her.
Over the previous week she has drawn headlines questioning if she would be the participant to fill the incomparable Ash Barty’s footwear, with ladies’s tennis in Australia having fallen right into a little bit of a gap because the then dominant world No.1 retired in 2022 on the age of 25.
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Placing that form of expectation on a 16-year-old is supremely unfair however such was her poise against established and highly ranked opponents in Adelaide it is not possible to maintain a lid on the concept Jones goes to be good. Maybe even superb.
Even a cautious appraisal from Dokic concludes that Jones will be “superb” however the 9 commentator cannot realistically envisage the Queenslander toppling her first spherical opponent, world No.6 Elena Rybakina, once they do battle on Margaret Court docket Enviornment on Tuesday afternoon.
“It is a large alternative, however let’s not neglect she’s 16, it is a powerful draw, she performs the sixth seed, Elena Rybakina, nevertheless it’s nearly getting expertise at this level,” Dokic instructed Large World of Sports activities’ The Morning Serve.
“She’s going to get on the market and compete, that is who she is, and need to compete arduous and nonetheless consider she will win, which is precisely what you need to do, not simply be completely happy to be there, however this can be a course of, let’s not neglect once you’re 16 it is about bettering your sport, not all the time about these wins, she must get the expertise as properly.”
Whatever the consequence of Jones’ grand slam debut, 2025 shapes as a large 12 months in her growth as she makes an attempt to push up the rankings from her present place at 293.
However Dokic warns that it might be a mistake for her to do an excessive amount of too quickly, with the rigours of a full calendar of journey for a participant of such a young age having the potential to wreck her long-term prospects.
Will probably be essential, Dokic says, to strike the suitable stability.
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Emerson Jones performs a forehand in her win over Xinyu Wang on the Adelaide Worldwide. Getty
“After the Australian summer time of tennis, the 12 months is lengthy, she’s solely 16, she will solely play a restricted quantity of WTA tournaments although she’s near getting inside the highest 200, so scheduling and that call about what she performs is vital,” Dokic mentioned.
“… I might nonetheless, to be sincere with you, combine juniors with some decrease ITF tournaments, some WTA tournaments if she will get into grand slam qualifying, but in addition do not be on the market on the highway for too lengthy, though you do should play greater than possibly 10 tournaments a 12 months and that is the stability.”
Dokic added that it was “regular” to make some errors with regard to discovering the suitable scheduling stability as a younger participant and inspired Jones and her group to experiment and embrace the teachings that arrive when a mistake is made.
“I all the time say at such a younger age, deal with bettering your self as an individual, bettering your self as a participant, bettering your strengths and weaknesses, but in addition have a look at the long-term plan, it is not in regards to the subsequent 12 months, it is in regards to the subsequent 10 or 15 years of her profession.
“Simply keep grounded, do your factor, get pleasure from your tennis, take a while at house as properly, and I feel having a extremely supportive community goes to be essential as a result of although she’s doing properly now, there will be some powerful years, all of us undergo it, so it should be actually essential that she has a help system that is there for her.”
Whereas nailing her schedule shapes as a vital step in Jones’ growth, Dokic additionally inspired the younger gun to look to the unimaginable rise of Italian world No.4 Jasmine Paolini for an instance of what will be achieved by a participant who would not have a naturally highly effective body.
“I feel she will be superb. I might right away say she will be prime 100, no drawback. Once I see somebody who has such an excellent angle, who competes so properly, who strikes so properly,” Dokic mentioned.
“She’s not huge in stature however she makes up for it with how dynamic she is. I see some similarities and possibly she ought to watch her a bit and base her sport on her a bit – Jasmine Paolini who’s the world No.4 and a grand slam finalist.
“She won’t be capable to have the most important serve however she’ll be capable to make up for it in different areas. Let’s hope she stays wholesome, harm free and retains doing what she’s doing as a result of she’s achieved so properly in juniors.”
