ROLAND GARROS

May 27, 2026

Francesca Jones

Press Conference

M. BOUZKOVA/F. Jones

6-0, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Fran, a tough one out there today. Just talk us through thoughts on the match and the conditions, as well.

FRANCESCA JONES: Well, I just think I started a little bit tense to begin, trying to feel my way into it, and I think just gave her a little bit too much time on the ball at times, and then looking for too much on other occasions. Didn't find the balance exactly how I needed to.

Yeah, as I said, like, I always trust my mentality. Gave myself the opportunity to get into it in the second set and just could have gone after one or two forehands in those games that I was serving for it, and I think honestly in the tiebreak I just died out a little bit.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How pleased are you with the way you fought? The match was going away from you, but I thought you really played well in that second set.

FRANCESCA JONES: Yeah, I did. I did play well. I think as the match went on I got better and better. I could see I was starting to get in her head a little bit. She was seeing a little bit less space on the court with my forehand.

Yeah, it's a real shame, honestly, I didn't go for the line the second set, but it only would have made it a set all. You've got to then close it out in the third set.

Against someone as experienced as her where she's making you play every single point, that's what she's renowned for, right, like she makes you play. And if you have a bad day, you're going to lose because she's not going to give you anything. If you have a good day, you're more likely to give yourself good chances. But you're got to take it off her, and I think, yeah, just unfortunately came up short. It was frustrating.

Q. You mentioned getting in her head a little bit. With where your ranking is, you're going to get some big draws early in Grand Slams. Is that a big part of your game, then, to mess around with opponents ranked 50, 60 places ahead of you in the world?

FRANCESCA JONES: That's a nice way to put it.

Q. There are other words, I could use, but...

FRANCESCA JONES: No, I quite liked it. Let's stick to it.

Yeah, as I said to you the other day, I think I'm always going to make opponents feel uncomfortable. I don't care what the score is. I will throw everything at you. I will throw every ounce of my mentality I've got at you, physically what I can. I will give you the short, tough slices if I need to, I'll hit dropshots, I'll hit a couple of loopy shots, I'll step in, I'll come to the net. Like, I'll throw everything I can at a match. I know I make it uncomfortable for people on court to close it out.

I think, you know, maybe I'm a little bit of a late bloomer. You know, at the end of the day, it's still my first main draw here and maybe you could put it down to experience and how I chose to play a little bit more, yeah, tentative in that, I'd say more the 6-5 game than the 5-4 game. I thought she played well in the 5-4 game, to be fair.

But yeah, probably do make it tough for the higher-ranked players.

Q. You were talking about experience there, you now have experience of winning a Grand Slam main-draw match. Reflecting on the tournament as a whole for you, what are your biggest take-homes from the last two matches?

FRANCESCA JONES: Yeah, obviously it's great to get one match, but I'm not here to get one match. As much as I might look like I'm taking it well, I'm pretty P'd off.

Of course it's always good to have it in the bank, metaphorically and realistically speaking, I suppose, as well. Yeah, I think it comes with its benefits going on into other main draws, you know.

The other day you were telling me about my previous main-draw losses, and I think, all in all, I have had some tough draws previously, and I think the more of these types of matches I play, the better that I'll get, like they improve your game.

For me, today really highlights how, you know, when you play some of these top players, they're beatable, as you can see. I think a couple of them have been struggling today, and no doubt the conditions are affecting that. They're beatable. But you can't give them too much breathing room.

Q. As you said the other day, it has been a really tough season for you. You have not been on court as much as you wanted to be. Do you feel heading into the grass that you have now kind of got in enough matches to really sort of kick-start through the British summer?

FRANCESCA JONES: I'd like to think so, but at the same time, ultimately, as I said, I won one match, right. Today would have given me a bit more confidence as well if I would have got through that one.

Yeah, I mean, I think this week proves that I'm always going to back myself, even if I have not got maybe that track record similar as I maybe did have last year as when I was coming into the grass with quite a lot of wins.

I do trust my mentality, so hopefully, you know, I'll put myself in the position over the grass as well to keep winning matches. I have won quite a few matches over the 250s in previous years, as well, which we obviously have great opportunities on the grass for that. Hopefully I'll have a couple of those before Wimbledon.

Yeah, I mean, as you well know, I love the clay. This one will hurt as much as losing in Wimbledon does for me.

Q. On the grass, what are your plans? Where are you planning on playing over the next few weeks?

FRANCESCA JONES: Nottingham and Eastbourne will be definite, but ultimately I can't assume anything either, right, because I think on the list my ranking dropped a little bit, so I think I'm actually three out of main draw.

If I get the main-draw wildcard or I sneak in, which is also probable based on, I think it moved three places here, as well, then yeah, Nottingham and Eastbourne for sure, Queen's. We'll see. I mean, I haven't really managed to put too much work in training block-wise because of the way the mandatory events and things have worked out.

So I really will conclude that in the next couple of days, like, whether I extend another week on clay and then train and play on the grass or if I go straight to London from here and play on the grass. I think we'll have that conversation now. Yeah, I think I've got to be smart with putting some training in and where we can as well.

Q. Going back to today's match, it was pretty hot even watching you on court. How was it for you playing out there? I know a couple of players have struggled a bit.

FRANCESCA JONES: Yeah, I mean, she's probably one of the worst opponents to play in the heat because she put a ball in the court every point. So there was long points and, you know, she also doesn't give you much on her ball, so you're consistently generating, which is effort.

So, yeah, it was tough. She was a tough opponent in these conditions, but conditions are part of it. You will never ever see me sit and talk about conditions. It's a tough part of the game. Get on with it.

Q. How different are the shoes that you wear on court to standard tennis shoes? In particular, do you choose not to slide, or is sliding difficult because of, you know, the tennis shoes you wear? It was a question we had on the radio about are your shoes different, and a question about sliding, as well.

FRANCESCA JONES: I was going to ask if you worked for Uniqlo, you're doing your thing? Am I helping with design here? Do I get a commission? How does it work?

I mean, my insoles are a little bit different, for sure. I've worked with a podiatrist, Bernat who's in Barcelona. He worked with all the Barcelona players. He's top-notch, he's one of the first people to message me, actually. He's worked with me since I was 10, and we have to adapt my insoles a lot.

But the Barricades, the adidas Barricades, are actually really helpful shoes for me, because I have enough space to put my insoles in, and we kind of adapt them a little bit. But the shoes, per se, no, they're the same as what you'd buy in a store or what adidas provide, and then the insoles are probably the biggest difference.

In terms of the sliding, I mean, I slide into my forehand and in defense on the slice, but I'm not the best slider in the world at all, no. I think the one thing I do is I slide on my right leg. I don't slide on the left. Some people only use their right, and others, maybe I'm dextrous in that way, but yeah, I just use my right foot.

I should probably add to that, actually. Also my left foot is 30% weaker. That's probably why. So I go for my right, yeah.

Q. I understand the Brits have all fought and battled really well and hard, but just fallen short on the clay. I wonder what it is specifically about the clay, why, maybe is it because Brits don't play on it as much? Is there something about it that means we maybe aren't as successful on it as other surfaces?

FRANCESCA JONES: I don't think there should be this much focus on a yearly basis on how Brits do on the clay, if I'm honest. I mean, I don't think it's relevant to me, because my record on clay is probably the best than all the Brits by far.

Like, I can't answer that question personally. Do I think we should try and develop more juniors on clay? Yes, like, I think it helps the understanding and construction of the game more. But I don't know how much, like, at least 40% of the tour is on hard, 60%? I don't know. You have all the Asian swing and all the U.S.

So it's up to players how they want to prioritize. I think it's good for juniors to develop 100%, but I don't think it should be as much focus on how the Brits do on the clay ultimately, because I'd say, all in all, it kind of equals out.

And you could look at it the other way around, how do the Americans do on clay? Okay, Coco won Roland Garros, but realistically, for the amount of players they have, what's the percentage of guys going through, I think you could probably look that up, as well. If you give me some stats on that, then we'll talk.