US Open 2025: Francesca Jones knocked out by Eva Lys on main draw debut
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Francesca Jones’s US Open main draw debut ended in defeat after an inspired performance from world No.59 Eva Lys.
The British qualifier played a good level throughout the match, but Lys was too strong on the day – coming through 6-0, 7-5 in an hour and 21 minutes.
Jones leaves New York having come through three rounds of qualifying for the second time at a Grand Slam (Australian Open, 2021).
It follows an excellent run of recent form, which has seen her win her first two WTA 125 titles in Palermo and Contrexeville. She’s now ranked up at No.89 in the world as one of four Brits in the top 100.
The first set scoreline was far from a fair reflection on Jones performance with the Bradford-native playing lots of positive tennis – but her opponent barely set a foot wrong.
It was a near flawless set from Lys, striking the ball perfectly from the back of the court – hitting nine winners to just four unforced errors.
There was little Jones could as the German pushed her back behind the baseline, forcing an error to break for a third time and clinch the set in 26 minutes.
Jones got the reward for her efforts at the start of the second set, getting herself on the scoreboard against the Lys serve starting a run of four consecutive breaks between them.
The level stayed consistently high throughout the second set with almost nothing between them, but the German stepped her foot on the gas once more come crunch time.
Jones managed to see off a match point with a big first serve trailing 6-5, but the pressure and depth of shot from Lys proved too much in the end. The British No.4 made two forced errors in long rallies to bring an end to her US Open debut.
Emma Raducanu will lead the charge for the Brits in the second round after Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal both lost earlier today.
