Keeping up with Fran Jones: the tennis star refusing to let rare condition define her
During the first weeks of last year’s clay-court season, Francesca Jones found herself fighting through a breathless three-set tussle in Bogotá that was rapidly falling out of her control.Trailing 5-3 in the final set of her second-round match, an exhausted Jones began her service motion.As she tried to leap into the air and strike the ball, however, she staggered forwards and collapsed to the ground.Two points from defeat, she was steered off the court in a wheelchair.This was an extreme experience for Jones, but it was also painfully reflective of her career until that point.
Her biggest adversary has so often been her own body.In 2024 alone, she contested 20 tournaments – seven of which ended in a mid-match retirement and she also withdrew mid-tournament from another event.In 40% of the events she took part in that year, her body simply did not allow her to play tennis.Jones’s various injuries over the years all have one common, singular origin.She was born with the rare genetic condition Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia (EEC), which means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand and seven toes in total.
It has come with numerous physical challenges that have affected Jones in her daily life as well as in her pursuit of success as a professional athlete.During her earlier years, while most of her contemporaries progressed as players and matured physically, Jones underwent various surgeries directly related to her condition.Gaining sufficient strength to compete against the best in the world has naturally represented a significant challenge.However, EEC also affects her tennis on a fundamental level; a basic requirement is the ability to hold on to a racket.If Jones goes a few days without training, upon her return her hands cramp under the strain of gripping the racket.
While she has always openly discussed her condition and she understands why it is such a point of inspiration Jones, 25, has also always been adamant that it does not define or limit her.It is simply a challenge for her to overcome.At the beginning of the new season, she reinforced those sentiments with two statement performances.In her first match of the year, Jones secured the best victory of her career, defeating world No 15 Emma Navarro in three sets.It was her first win against any player ranked inside the top 40.
She followed it up with a demonstration of her boundless determination and grit.Down 6-1, 3-0 and on her way out in round two against Sinja Kraus, Jones improbably turned the match around, winning 11 of the subsequent 13 games to reach the last eight.Auckland marked her fourth career WTA quarter-final.Having been ruled out with injury so frequently and unable to break into the top 140 for a long time, in recent years Jones has focused on improving her physical durability, working hard on increasing her strength and ensuring she is as prepared for the rigours of her sport as possible.Those considerable efforts paid off throughout the second half of last season, her momentum and confidence blossoming.
She won two WTA 125 events, the tournament category just beneath the regular WTA Tour, and produced a career-best tour result by reaching the semi-final of the São Paulo WTA 250 event.Since the beginning of 2025, she has risen from outside the world top 150 to her current ranking of 72.Her efforts in Auckland will now boost her up inside the top 70 for the first time.Jones spent her earlier years training at the famous Sánchez Casal Academy in Barcelona, Spain.Having learned Spanish and adapted to the culture, she still spends much of her time there.
Her game is also reminiscent of other Spanish players, with Jones’s strengths centred around her heavy topspin forehand and her determination to outwork and fight through all opponents from the baseline.Unlike most of her compatriots, clay is her favourite surface.She has shown numerous times that when she is healthy, she can hold her own against quality opposition.Away from the court, Jones is kind, sociable and one of the most approachable players on the tour but she is also a fiercely independent and intense individual desperate to unlock her potential.As she has matured, part of her growth has been finding greater balance and an understanding that relaxing and enjoying herself at the appropriate time would have a positive effect on her tennis.
By being inside the top 100, Jones will have the benefit of competing in the main draws of the biggest tournaments against the best players in the world for most of the year.She believes she is capable of much more, but considering the obstacles she has already had to overcome, this alone is an astounding achievement.Still, progress is rarely straightforward.Jones’s immense efforts in Auckland ended in an achingly familiar scenario as she was forced to retire from her quarter-final match against China’s Wang Xinyu on Friday due to an apparent groin injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3.Still, her debut in 2026 showed that she is the protagonist of one of the truly great sports stories in the world right now.
With any luck, it has only just begun.
Stephen Colbert on ICE killing of Minnesota woman: ‘A senseless yet entirely predictable tragedy’
Late-night hosts expressed outrage over the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) officer in Minneapolis.Stephen Colbert opened Thursday’s Late Show on a somber note, following the killing of Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. “It’s a senseless yet entirely predictable tragedy,” said Colbert. “And our hearts go out to Renee Good’s loved ones, friends and the community where it happened.“By now we’ve all seen the video,” he continued, referring to multiple videos shot by witnesses which show Good’s car appearing to turn away from the officer, who then fires shots into the side of her vehicle as she drove
Almost 50 writers boycott Adelaide festival after it dumps pro-Palestine academic Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Adelaide festival has pulled down part of its website as dozens of speakers said they were boycotting writers’ week, after Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah was dumped from the lineup with the board citing “cultural sensitivity” concerns in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.The page promoting the schedule of authors, journalists, academics and commentators was “unpublished” on Friday following widespread condemnation of the board’s decision to remove Abdel-Fattah.“In respect of the wishes of the writers who have recently indicated their withdrawal from the writers’ week 2026 program, we have temporarily unpublished the list of participants and events while we work through changes to the website,” the festival posted online.By Friday afternoon, 47 participants had withdrawn, with more believed to be coordinating their exit announcements with fellow speakers.Writers Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser, authors Drusilla Modjeska and Melissa Lucashenko along with Stella award-winning poet Evelyn Araluen were boycotting the event
Seth Meyers on Trump officials justifying Venezuela assault: ‘Lamest dorks on the planet’
Late-night hosts mocked the Trump administration’s bullish rhetoric on Greenland after the surprise takeover of Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.“If you were wondering how the rest of the world feels about Trump claiming he has unilateral power to attack a sovereign nation and kidnap its leader, it turns out they’re not exactly thrilled,” said Seth Meyers on Wednesday’s Late Night, five days after the Trump administration deposed Maduro and brought the Venezuelan president and his wife to New York to face federal drug-trafficking charges.Top UN officials warned that the shock military intervention most likely violated international law and constituted a dangerous precedent.“So there’s deep concern within the international community over Trump’s claim that the US now runs Venezuela,” Meyers explained. “This a fraught moment that requires sophisticated diplomacy from a seasoned and experienced statesman
Singer-songwriter Bill Callahan: ‘I’m not a craftsman – I’m more of a drunk professor who likes coincidence and mistakes’
Preceding the release of My Days of 58, the Americana legend once known as Smog discusses his Yorkshire youth, why Spotify is like the mafia and the bleak state of AIWe got married to [Smog’s] Our Anniversary. When you write songs, do you think about how listeners might carry them into their own lives, or do the songs stop being yours after they are done? VanearleWhen I wrote [2019’s] Watch Me Get Married, I thought maybe people would have that as their wedding song. But mostly it’s inconceivable what people are gonna do with a song. I don’t think about it too much because there are 100,000 places where it’s gonna live. Have I ever heard about any inappropriate uses of songs? I think having Our Anniversary as a wedding song is a little surprising, but maybe they’re realists
Adelaide festival dumps prominent academic Randa Abdel-Fattah over ‘cultural sensitivity’ concerns after Bondi attack
The Adelaide festival has removed prominent academic and Palestine advocate Randa Abdel-Fattah from its lineup citing concerns over “cultural sensitivity” after a review undertaken in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.The festival covers arts, music, talks and theatre and includes Adelaide’s annual Writers’ Week next month, where Abdel-Fattah was due to appear for the second time after hosting a number of panels and sessions in 2023.In a statement on Thursday, the festival’s board said it had been “shocked and saddened by the tragic events at Bondi” and the “significant heightening of both community tensions and the community debate”.“As the Board responsible for the Adelaide Festival organisation and all Adelaide Writers’ Week events, staff, volunteers and participants, we have today advised scheduled writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah that the Board has formed the judgment that we do not wish to proceed with her scheduled appearance at next month’s Writers’ Week,” it said.Within hours of the board’s announcement, Abdel-Fattah issued her own statement, accusing the festival board of “blatant and shameless” anti-Palestinian racism and censorship
One Battle After Another and The Studio lead Actor awards nominations
One Battle After Another and The Studio lead the nominations for this year’s Actor awards.The Actor awards were previously known as the Screen Actors Guild (Sag) awards but were renamed last year. The name change was to provide “clearer recognition in terms of what the show is about”, according to those involved.Paul Thomas Anderson’s counterculture comedy thriller received seven nominations for cast members Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Benicio del Toro, Teyana Taylor and Sean Penn, as well as for the acting and stunt ensemble.The $130m budget film was also named best picture at last weekend’s Critics Choice awards and leads the nominations for this weekend’s Golden Globes
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