British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

KK · Club Coach

RE: Week 1 - WTA250 Auckland, New Zealand - Hard

seagull · Tennis legend

Great stuff. Plays 7th seed Wang in QF.
Every chance of a new CH this week.

the addict · Tennis legend

QF:- Francesca Jones (GBR) WR72 v Xinyu Wang (CHN) WR57 [7]

paulisi · Tennis legend

Peter too wrote:
Fran 1-6 6-4 6-1 from a set and 3-0 down. The physio came on court at 3-0 down in the 2nd and worked magic on Fran's leg and knee and the match turned round. Fran said she was tired after the match but otherwise OK.

-- Edited by Peter too on Wednesday 7th of January 2026 02:57:39 AM

BBC reporting the physio came on twice for Fran

Peter too · Tennis legend

I found the match on the ITV tennis channel last night, despite the heading saying they were showing the United Cup. It might be worth checking there for Fran's next match, or for Katie and Sonay if you are up after 5am tomorrow.

-- Edited by Peter too on Wednesday 7th of January 2026 12:05:47 PM

LordBrownof · Challenger qualifying

Match of two halves. Fran's opponent was lights out for a set and a half - fantastic hitting, great ball striking. If she can play like that more consistently, boy, what a player. But Fran stuck in there, took a timeout, and regrouped. The Austrian let her back into rallies, and she found a way to start constructing a winning streak.

In addition to her tiredness, I think the court speed took Fran a bit of time to get used to. The court speed in Auckland is slower in the evening, when she played her first match against Navarro. This was much quicker.

paulisi · Tennis legend

BBC reported the same. It look a while to get use to the heat and the change of speed of the courts

Jan · Hall of fame

Well done Fran!!!

Tennpar · Club Coach

I've been recording Sky and then watching later
Sinja looked to have too much power and accuracy for Fran in the first set and start of the second, but Fran backed herself and powered through.
A great gritty performance - don't know how she does it - but keep doing it smile

Blue_Belle · County player

paulisi wrote:
BBC reported the same. It look a while to get use to the heat and the change of speed of the courts

Today it's supposed to be a bit cooler.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Tennpar wrote:
I've been recording Sky and then watching later
Sinja looked to have too much power and accuracy for Fran in the first set and start of the second, but Fran backed herself and powered through.
A great gritty performance - don't know how she does it - but keep doing it

Fran seemed to be consistently keeping the ball very deep, or close to the side lines. Her accuracy was amazing considering her limitations.

dodrade · Futures qualifying

Peter too wrote:
I found the match on the ITV tennis channel last night, despite the heading saying they were showing the United Cup. It might be worth checking there for Fran's next match, or for Katie and Sonay if you are up after 5am tomorrow.

-- Edited by Peter too on Wednesday 7th of January 2026 12:05:47 PM

ITV Tennis Channel?

Blue_Belle · County player

Both women's doubles QFs were w/o today.

Blue_Belle · County player

Katie has started and is *2-5 down

Babfive · Satellite level

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