At just 17, Emerson Jones has already achieved tennis milestones that many players will only dream about.
After winding up a junior career highlighted by two major girls’ singles finals and a lengthy hold on the world No.1 ranking, Jones has already sampled life at Grand Slam level. Last month, she also celebrated victory in her first Billie Jean King Cup match representing Australia.
Helped by an ITF title in Brisbane and another final in Gifu this season – as well as a first WTA 1000 match win at the Miami Open – Jones recently climbed inside the world’s top 130.
And now another ‘pinch me’ moment awaits at Roland Garros, where the teenager will take on four-time champion Iga Swiatek in her main-draw debut at the claycourt Slam.
“Playing [the] world No.3 at the French Open, I think I definitely have to take in everything I get,” said Jones, a wildcard recipient, in the days ahead of arguably the biggest match of her career.
“I'm super excited because, you know, not many 17-year-olds get to do this and play against these players, so I think it's definitely great for experience and learning.”
The blockbuster match-up will also bring a centre-court debut, with Jones and Swiatek scheduled to play the opening match at Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday.
“I don't even think I've seen the court yet, so it'd be pretty exciting,” said Jones as she contemplated the possibility of competing on the famed centre court.
“You kind of hope you get to play on that, so I think it's going to be great.”
Despite the steep learning curve, the Queenslander is embracing every new experience.
“I had played juniors here, so you're over at the other centre and I haven't been at this place before so it's tricky. I couldn't find the locker room before at this site,” she admitted.
“But yeah, I think it's really cool – you get to see all the players. As juniors you got to see them, but you don't play against them.
“Now you're seeing them and playing against them, so I think that's great.”
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Despite her relative inexperience, Jones can draw on earlier Grand Slam encounters against elite opponents. She faced two-time major champion Elena Rybakina in her Australian Open debut in 2025, and No.16 seed Victoria Mboko at Melbourne Park this year.
“It’s probably not such a shock anymore, because I have played those two, who are at the top,” she noted. “It's definitely a great experience. You get to learn a lot of things.”
With confidence steadily building from such encounters, Jones refuses to be intimidated by Swiatek’s Roland Garros pedigree.
“I'm still going to try to go out there to win,” she insisted. “I'm not going to completely write myself off.”
Nor will Jones allow her relative inexperience on Parisian clay to be a factor. “Clay is not my strength but also I think I've got to learn to make it not my weakness, so I definitely think I'm learning,” she insisted.
“I've watched the matches [against Swiatek], but to be honest, I just need to do everything like the best I can.
“There's probably no excuses. I think I've just got to go out there and try to do everything at my 100 per cent – and yeah, hopefully we'll see how that goes.”
For Jones, it is simply another next step in a career that's already accelerating at rapid speed.