How an unknown British player is helping Carlos Alcaraz's Wimbledon title bid
Alcaraz eliminated Taylor Fritz on Friday to reach the Wimbledon final for the third year in a row, having landed the last two trophies in SW19.
The Spanish superstar has been in remarkable form, having just won his 24th ATP Tour match in a row as he now looks to clinch a sixth major title.
Ahead of his showdown with Sinner, Alcaraz is being helped by Adam Jones at the 2025 Championships, a largely unknown British tennis player.
Jones is ranked 1,513th in the world in singles but he's being asked by some of the world's top stars to do an important job at the All England Club.
The 27-year-old has become the go-to hitting partner for Alcaraz – as well as the likes of Novak Djokovic and Emma Raducanu- with Jones asked to mimic the style of their respective next opponents.
'It's a great gig and a fun way to earn some money,' Jones told the BBC. 'Whoever they're playing you try to copy their style.
'With Carlos, before he played Jan-Lennard Struff, who has a massive serve, I was standing a metre inside the baseline nuking serves.'
When he's not working as one of Wimbledon's in-house hitting partners, Jones plays on the low-level ITF Futures Tour, which the Briton has described as a 'rat race'.
'The Futures tour is a rat race – the finances are absolutely brutal,' Jones added.
'If you lose in qualifying you get no money. A couple of weeks ago I won $37 after losing in singles quallies and then lost first round doubles – the minimum for a hotel was $150 a night.
'You're losing money every single week. When people see you're a tennis player and see you're at Wimbledon, they think you have loads of money and live a luxurious life. You don't – it's the complete opposite.'
Jones was previously employed as a full-time hitting partner for Croatian star Donna Vekic – but gave it up to focus on his own playing career. More Trending
'When I was travelling the world with a top star, staying in the nicest hotels and using the best facilities, I actually missed the Futures,' Jones continued.
'I wanted to go back to the jungle and the hellholes. You've got to remember where you came from. Remember the grind.'
Once Wimbledon is over, Jones, who is 619th in the world in doubles, wants to build up his ranking to play on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Jones is hoping to climb up the doubles rankings in to feature at Wimbledon 2026.
MORE: Wimbledon prize money: How much will Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova get?
MORE: Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner? Novak Djokovic names 'favourite' to win Wimbledon final
MORE: Carlos Alcaraz reacts to Jannik Sinner thrashing Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon
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