Bradford's Fran Jones to play in Australian Open
It's all eyes on Melbourne tonight...
Last updated 8th Feb 2021
Bradford-born Francesca Jones will make her tennis grand slam debut tonight, playing in the Australian Open.
The 20-year-old was once told she would never play professional tennis.
She has a genetic condition which means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, four toes on one foot and three one the other, and has to play with a specially adapted racket.
But she says she's "just another female tennis player, looking to achieve her goals."
"My grip is significantly smaller than pretty much every player on the tour. My racket's lighter as well, but I just keep trying to find solutions to some of the barriers I might face.
"Every athlete faces hurdles, and you've just got to find your way to jump over them."
It all started for Fran when she was 5 years old, at Heaton Tennis Club in Bradford.
Her first ever coach was Matt McTurk. He said: "I didn't really know, if I'm honest, how far she would go, but it was really apparent at a very young age that she was incredibly competitive and she was very driven.
"She had a clear goal from a very young age, that she wanted to be a professional tennis player."
"It's been a long road. It's tough for professional tennis players to make a living out of tennis.
"With her ranking where she's at now, hopefully she can push on from the Australian Open as her first grand slam, and start earning some money from it."