Fran Jones calls for inquiry after British players exit US

Fran Jones backed calls for an inquest into the state of British tennis after a disappointing performance at the US Open where no British player reached beyond the second round.

Jones was the last Briton standing in the main draw but lost to 14th seed Iva Jovic on Thursday night, meaning none of the nine British players who qualified for the main draw advanced past the second round.

Britain’s best hope, Wimbledon semi-finalist Arthur Fery, faced a difficult first-round draw and was defeated by 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti.

Cameron Norrie, Jan Choinski and Henry Wendelken also lost in the first round while Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel, Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Jones were eliminated in the second round.

Jones pointed to the absence of injured top players Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu but insisted there "definitely" needs to be an inquiry into what went wrong.

She said: "You want to see people get to the back end of tournaments. But the top players aren’t here."

Jones added: "A couple of tough draws, I’d say. But you’d have to play a seed in the second round."

She noted it was positive to see everyone win matches they were expected to win but stressed the importance of beating seeded players to achieve greater success.

When asked if she thought an inquest was needed, Jones replied: "Do I think there could be an inquest? I always think there’s things that British tennis could do better. So yes, definitely."

She acknowledged that things happen and the level of competition is improving, with players dangerous on their day, and suggested that while some may lose in the second round, others could reach the semi-finals, as Arthur Fery did at Wimbledon.

Draper has been sidelined for much of the last year and a half due to recurring bone bruising injury, which has caused several failed comeback attempts and led to a drop in his rankings.

Raducanu has been absent due to a stress fracture in her leg, an injury that also forced her to miss Wimbledon, following her historic qualifier victory at the 2021 US Open.

Leylah Fernandez, who faced Raducanu in the 2021 US Open final and is this year’s 31st seed, urged Raducanu not to return too soon to avoid further injury, noting the internal struggle between wanting to return early and the need for long-term health.