Auckland, Jan. 5 -- Britain's Francesca Jones opened her 2026 season with the biggest win of her career, beating American world number 15 Emma Navarro here on Monday.
According to the BBC sport, Jones, ranked 72nd, had never played an opponent inside the world's top 20, but showed her quality and mentality to win 7-5 2-6 6-4.
After going an early break up in the decider, 25-year-old Jones held her nerve to serve out victory against second seed Navarro.
The British number three showed her ability to mix things up from the baseline, drawing mistakes from her out-of-sorts opponent, who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals last year.
"I'm absolutely knackered - for the first match of the year I didn't make it easy," said Jones, who ha...