Australian Emerson Jones, teaming with Italian Vittoria Paganetti, advances to her first girls’ doubles quarterfinal at Grand Slam level.

Paris, France, 6 June 2024 | Leigh Rogers

Emerson Jones has become the first Australian in eight years to advance to the girls’ doubles quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

The 15-year-old from the Gold Coast and her Italian partner Vittoria Paganetti secured their spot among the final eight with a 6-4 7-6(4) victory against Czech combination Eliska Tichackova and Lucie Urbanova in second-round action today.

This propels world No.2 Jones, who last month became the highest-ranked Australian junior girl since Ash Barty almost 13 years earlier, into her first Grand Slam doubles quarterfinal.

> READ MORE: Emerson Jones soars to a career-high world No.2

The last Australian to reach this stage in a Roland Garros girls’ doubles draw was Jaimee Fourlis in 2016.

Jones and Paganetti, a 17-year-old ranked No.35, will face the tournament’s second seeds, British pair Hannah Klugman and Mingge Xu, in the next round. World No.6 Klugman and world No.8 Xu were girls’ doubles semifinalists at the Australian Open earlier this year.

In boys’ doubles action, Emerson’s older brother Hayden Jones bowed out in the second round alongside France’s Charlie Camus.

Pavle Marinkov, an 18-year-old from Sydney, also lost in the second round with his British partner Oliver Bonding.

These results mean that for the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament, Emerson Jones is the last remaining Australian junior. At the Australian Open earlier this year, she became the first Aussie to reach a girls’ singles final in 16 years.

Aussies in action – Roland Garros

RESULTS
Girls’ doubles, second round
[5] Emerson Jones (AUS)/Vittoria Paganetti (ITA) d Eliska Tichackova (CZE)/Lucie Urbanova (CZE) 6-4 7-6(4)

Boys’ doubles, second round
[6] Viktor Frydrych (GBR)/Mees Rottgering (NED) d Pavle Marinkov (AUS)/Oliver Bonding (GBR) 6-7(2) 6-1 [10-5]
Timofei Derepasko/Amir Omarkhanov (KAZ) d [5] Hayden Jones (AUS)/Charlie Camus (FRA) 7-6(4) 6-2

COMING UP
Girls’ doubles, quarterfinals
[5] Emerson Jones (AUS)/Vittoria Paganetti (ITA) v [2] Hannah Klugman (GBR)/Mingge Xu (GBR)

Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!