Francesca Jones interview: ‘My grit stems from knowing I'm different'

Telegraph

4 days ago

Francesca Jones has had to overcome more obstacles than most to forge a career in professional tennis.
By the time she was a teenager and competing in junior tennis tournaments, Jones had already lost count of the number of operations she had undergone because of her Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia (EEC), a rare genetic condition affecting her hands and feet that meant she was born with six fingers and seven toes as well as a cleft palate.
Sitting in an upstairs meeting room at the National Tennis Centre as she steps up her preparations for Wimbledon, it is clear Jones does not want to say she has had a tougher journey than any other professional player.
'Ultimately we just feel that I have to be physically stronger than most people to endure the mechanical stress that my body is put through, which is higher than the vast majority,' Jones tells Telegraph Sport. 'Albeit that doesn't mean it's any harder for me than it is for others, it's just a different challenge that we face and we deal with, and we plan for it.'
However, there is no getting away from the fact that Jones has to contend with parameters that most tennis players would not have to think about. Having three toes on her right foot affects her balance – both on and off the court – and at one point doctors told her a career in tennis was likely out of reach because of her condition. Yet that only spurred her on more.
'When we're talking about independence and making decisions early, for me it's all about character-building,' Jones says when asked about the effects of EEC on her tennis journey.
'My character is I always wear my heart on my sleeve in that sense it's always very clear how hard I'm willing to work on the court, how persistent I will be and that for me it's never until you're giving your hand to the opponent right? So that fight and that grit definitely stems from knowing that I'm different and I embrace that.'
That determination saw her take an unconventional step at the age of nine. Having started playing tennis where she grew up on a farm in West Yorkshire, just outside of Bradford, Jones moved alone to Spain to learn on the clay courts of Barcelona.
In a very matter-of-fact tone, Jones, who is ranked 124th in the world with a career high of 113, says of the move to Spain: 'It was [about] learning to prioritise, learning how to make my own decisions, my parents didn't move out there with me.
'I had to learn to build my own routines very young and learn a new language, learn how to communicate differently with the people I was living with who maybe didn't understand my language or my culture at the time.'
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Jones is now bilingual and is still based in Spain, with that time at a tennis academy having a lasting impact. 'That decision makes me the type of player I am today,' she says. 'Having been brought up on the clay courts and been brought up with the Spanish values, which for me are hard work and humility, and I think that really is vital when you're coming into the deep end of the season.'
Away from talk of her on-court exploits, Jones is keen to talk about her love of football and food, both of which she indulges in travelling the world playing tennis. She is a fan of Barcelona and Manchester United, the latter of which she tries to see at least once a year, and visited La Bombonera and Estadio Monumental with her team last year, the respective stadiums of Argentine teams Boca Juniors and River Plate. She will be keeping a keen eye on the Euros and is keen to plan a trip to the yellow wall in Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park.
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Her first course of action when she arrives in a new city is simple, though: cultivate a restaurant list. It is a passion she shares with Emma Raducanu, the pair often meeting up for dinner or a coffee. She was also in Raducanu's box at Eastbourne this week.
'I always try to be very polite and be very amicable with anyone that I'm going to play against,' Jones says when asked about her friends on tour. 'When you're on the court, you're on the court and I'm a warrior on the court as much as I can be, but off the court at the same time you want to keep things as light as possible because it is such a heavy ambience that you find yourself in.
'So of course having those point people on the tour that you can maybe disconnect and have a coffee with is key but it's finding the balance and with the particular example of Emma, we definitely use each other for advice and I think can provide objective opinions and feel that there isn't any malice between us in that sense.'
The pair, who are just over two years apart in age, have even thought about their post-tennis careers and went on a trip to Oxford University together last year. Right now, though, there is the small matter of the grass-court season and Wimbledon. The quintessentially British event reminds Jones of the days she first picked up a tennis racket.
'I started around six years old and when you come and you play on the grass it is a reminder of those moments because obviously being a Brit you immediately associate tennis with Wimbledon and the grass courts,' she says.
'So definitely during this period I feel more connected to the little girl that did pick up the racket for the first time and slightly nostalgic with those moments of your first steps around Wimbledon as a spectator and then your first steps as a player as a junior.'