OXENHOPE tennis ace Fran Jones battled on through the pain barrier as her quest for a maiden Wimbledon win ended in a three-set defeat to former top-15 player Petra Martic tonight.
The 23-year-old was in clear discomfort and struggling to move for much of a bizarre deciding set during which she was initially denied a medical time out due to the issue being deemed to be cramp related.
She bravely continued after eventually receiving treatment at the change of ends but, with world number one Iga Swiatek awaiting the victor, the world number 215 was powerless to prevent Martic prevailing 3-6 6-1 6-2.
Fran Jones made a brilliant start to her Wimbledon encounter with Petra Martic yesterday, but a combination of injury and her opponent's talent meant she was unable to close out victory. (Image: PA.)
Wild card Jones was back in the main draw at the All England Club for the first time since losing to Coco Gauff on her Championships debut three years ago.
Jones raced into a 3-0 lead against a player ranked 130 places higher before holding her nerve to close out the opening set after being pegged back to 3-3.
However, Croatian Martic breezed through the second set and then, with her opponent severely hampered by injury, cruised into a round-two clash with five-time grand slam winner Swiatek, which will take place on Thursday.
It rounded off a tough few weeks for Jones, who had to withdraw from the Rothesay Open in Nottingham last month due to injury too.
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