Emerson Jones capped a strong run on the Australian Pro Tour with a 6-4 6-4 victory over compatriot Maddison Inglis in the final of the City of Playford Tennis International.
Entering the tournament six Australian Open wildcard points behind Talia Gibson, Jones swept through her five matches without dropping a set, securing her place in the singles main draw at Melbourne Park in January.
The 17-year-old claimed her third career ITF singles title and is set to rise 14 places in the world rankings to within 12 spots of cracking the top 150 for the first time.
Her Australian Pro Tour campaign finished at 12-2 and all but one of her victories came in straight sets.
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Meanwhile, Rinky Hijikata captured the men’s singles title, defeating one of the Challenger Tour’s most in-form players, Dane Sweeny, 6-0 6-7(8) 6-4 in an epic two-and-a-half-hour battle.
Sweeny pushed back in a tightly contested second set, but Hijikata regained control when it mattered most, earning a crucial late break to seal the victory.
The win moved Hijikata up 11 spots in the world rankings to No.114.
Sweeny concluded the Australian Pro Tour with an impressive 44-5 record, which included six titles. He climbed from world No.680 in February to No.209, just 15 places shy of his career high.
In the women’s doubles, South Korean duo Dayeon Back and Eunhye Lee downed Australian top seeds Petra Hule and Elena Micic 6-4 6-4.
Australian pair Li Tu and Jake Delaney triumphed in a thrilling men’s doubles final, defeating Anirudh Chandrasekar and Reese Stalder 6-7(5) 7-5 10-8.