Francesca Jones defeats Venus Williams in Miami for WTA 1000 breakthrough
In her first training session at the ATX Open in Austin last month, weeks after injury put an end to her Australian Open, Francesca Jones found herself in an unusual, delightful situation,Her training partner across the net was none other than Venus Williams, the most successful active female tennis player,Being able to train with such a legendary player was a dream itself, but Jones can now say that she has also defeated her as she closed out a 7-5, 7-5 win over the 45-year-old seven-time grand slam champion in the first round of the Miami Open,The victory marks Jones’s first WTA 1000 match win in her career, breaking a four-match losing streak,This was an intense battle that Williams, a three-time Miami Open champion between 1998 and 2001, could have won.
It took two tight, frantic sets for Jones to find a way through,The 25-year-old showed her mental toughness by recovering to win the final three games of both sets after trailing 4-5 on serve each time,Jones will face the fifth seed, Jessica Pegula, in the second round,Jones’s success is one of the most inspirational stories in world sport due to her genetic condition, ectrodactyly ectodermal dysplasia, which means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand and seven toes,Her numerous surgeries meant she was unable to build a solid fitness base in her youth and, as she has tried to catch up as an adult, her young career has been ravaged by injuries that have kept her off the tour for significant periods and forced her to retire from countless matches.
Jones enjoyed a brilliant 2025 season, breaking into the top 70 after making great physical gains off the court, but her fitness troubles have continued.A tearful Jones had to retire from her first round match at the Australian Open.She is still recovering from her injuries at the start of the year.“It’s great for me to get a win.I’m struggling at the moment with my fitness and it has been a really, really tough year so I just feel a little bit relieved,” she said.
After closing out her victory, Jones showered Williams with compliments while the pair embraced in a warm hug, an unusual sight for Williams with any opponent other than her sister, Serena.For Williams, this defeat was her eighth loss in a row after winning her first match on her return to competition.She has been competitive against quality players in almost every one of these affairs, but these results are a natural consequence of her age.Williams has repeatedly said that her motivation for continuing to compete lies in the fact that she is finally free of pain and able to enjoy playing tennis again after undergoing surgery in 2024 to address her uterine fibroids, which she has struggled with for 30 years.Williams is one of the greatest tennis players of all time and another strong audience was present, demonstrating why she continues to receive wildcards into so many events.
With the tour soon heading to Europe for the red clay season, it is unclear where Williams will next appear.Elsewhere, the 17-year-old Frenchman Moïse Kouamé became the youngest male player to win a Masters 1000 match since Rafael Nadal as he overcame cramping to defeat Zachary Svajda 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and reach the second round at the Miami Open.Kouamé, a French wildcard who has received significant attention this year for his excellent performances on the lower level ATP Challenger and ITF circuits, was congratulated by none other than Novak Djokovic after his victory.“I have a small secret,” Kouamé said during an interview with Tennis Channel.“After the win, Novak texted me.
I’m so nervous,I don’t know what to answer,I’m really so nervous,I don’t know what I’m going to answer,”Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 1, will open his tournament with one of the most highly anticipated match-ups of the year.
He will face the 19-year-old rising star João Fonseca, who reached the second round in front of a full, intense crowd with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over Fabian Marozsan,
Prolonged high oil prices could ‘crimp’ AI boom, WTO warns
An extended period of high oil prices as a result of war in the Middle East could “crimp” the AI boom, the World Trade Organization’s chief economist has warned.The war and its impact on energy and fertiliser costs is the main risk to the global economy identified in the WTO’s latest Global Trade Outlook.But the Geneva-based body also raised a question mark about the continued strength of AI investment, which in 2025 helped to offset the hit to global trade from Donald Trump’s tariffs.“There is an interesting possible interaction between the Middle East conflict and the AI boom, in part because the boom is very energy-intensive,” said the WTO’s chief economist, Robert Staiger. “If the price of energy continues to be elevated for the whole year, that could put a crimp on the AI boom
Europe’s biggest airlines say fuel price spike caused by Iran war will drive up fares
Europe’s biggest airlines have said the rise in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East will drive up fares and are advising passengers to book early.While carriers have partly hedged the price of jet fuel, bosses said they could not avoid passing on additional costs to passengers for long.Long-haul airlines such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa said they would be adding more flights via Asia with Gulf carriers’ hubs either shut or operating at a reduced level since the US-Israeli attack on Iran.EasyJet dismissed any fears of imminent fuel shortages affecting flights in Europe despite concerns about supplies in parts of Asia, with Vietnamese airlines this week warning that they may reduce schedules.Kenton Jarvis, the airline’s chief executive, said it was “not seeing any issues” with its fuel supply
BoE delivers message Britons don’t want to hear as inflation – and rates – look set to rise
The US-Israel attack on Iran has already driven prices higher and not just at the petrol pumps, the Bank of England said on Thursday in a gloomy assessment of the UK’s economic outlook.An inflation rate that was on track to fall from 3% to the Bank’s 2% target in the coming months is now expected to rise to 3.5%. That is one probable impact of the US and Israel’s war on Iran.Higher transport and energy costs can quickly flow through to higher food prices, ratcheting up the consumer prices index when the previous trajectory was down
Bank of England holds interest rates at 3.75% and signals rise is possible within months
The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold and signalled it could be forced to increase borrowing costs in the coming months as the US-Israel war on Iran threatens to drive inflation in the UK above 3%.The Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep its base rate at 3.75% amid growing concern over the surge in energy prices triggered by the conflict.The pound strengthened against the US dollar after the decision, while UK government borrowing costs rose and the FTSE 100 fell as City traders bet that the Bank would be forced to raise interest rates twice this year.In a development that would add to the pressure on household finances already battered by a cost of living crisis, financial markets anticipate a quarter-point increase from as early as June, followed by a further rise to 4
PwC partners who fail to embrace AI have no future at firm, US CEO warns
The US boss of PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned that partners who do not get to grips with AI have no future at the consulting firm.Paul Griggs said senior staff who were not “paranoid about being AI-first” would probably be replaced by others who were ready to embrace the technology. “I don’t think anyone gets a free pass here. Anyone,” Griggs told the Financial Times.An employee who thinks they have the “opportunity to opt out” of AI is “not going to be here that long”, Griggs added
BP to sell German oil refinery as part of $20bn cost-cutting plan
BP has agreed to sell its giant German oil refinery site in Gelsenkirchen to the investment firm Klesch Group as part of the British oil company’s plan to sell off $20bn (£15bn) worth of assets and cut its costs.The value of the sale was not disclosed but BP said it would save the oil company about $1bn of underlying operating expenditure at the complex, which processes about 12m tonnes of crude oil every year, mainly as fuel for cars and aircraft.The sale has also enabled BP to raise its cost-cutting target to between $6.5bn and $7.5bn by 2027, or almost a third of its cost baseline in 2023
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