Sacha Jones

Sacha Jones' New Zealand finale over in first round

The 21-year-old played her final match as a New Zealander before switching her allegiance to the left side of the Tasman Sea, but fell to Ukraine-born Briton Elena Baltacha 6-2 4-6 6-3 in the first round of the ASB Classic.

"A couple of people mentioned that I should be ready in case anybody makes a few comments and I was ready for that," Jones said. "Other than that I tried to protect myself: I didn't read anything or listen to anything or watch anything on the subject."

"I'd made my decision - which was obviously a very tough decision - and I didn't really want to let other people's opinions influence me."

"I'm not quite sure how you define 'system' in New Zealand. I think everyone has done it individually. Marina's done it her way and she's obviously been very successful. I've done it my way and the guys do it their way."

"I don't think [my decision] sends a message other than do what you can to chase your dreams."

"I'm 21 and I don't really want to leech off my parents," she said. "When I was in Australia last time I sat down and had talks with Tennis Australia and they were really keen to have me on board."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz

Sacha Jones' leap across ditch dismays Erakovic

New Zealand's top tennis player, Marina Erakovic, says she was stunned and disappointed when she heard that Sacha Jones will defect to Australia after next week's ASB Classic.

"To tell you the truth I was in shock and I still am in shock: it was out of the blue for me," Erakovic said yesterday.

"I read some things in the paper but I still don't see why she's done it. We really do not have a Fed Cup team now. It's hard, it's hardest on all of the people that have been supporting her over the years."

"I really don't know what to say: if she thinks this is the best option for her and this will make her achieve her goals, then that's great and all the best to her, but New Zealand and Australia are in the same part of the world and I don't really see the difference there. I am really disappointed by this."

"I've done quite a lot of work and I've sort of made it and I don't want people to say one of our top players is leaving so that means you can't make it here, because that's not true. You can make it and this is just a real shame, really."

Like Jones, Erakovic has the option of playing for another country as she was born in Split and could choose to represent Croatia.

However, Erakovic insisted this would never happen and New Zealand was the country where her heart will always be.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/

New Zealand's second-ranked tennis player Sacha Jones has ditched the silver fern for green and gold.

Tennis New Zealand today confirmed Jones has opted to switch nationalities and play for Australia, a decision motivated by the lure of increased resources across the Tasman.

Jones has the option of playing for either country thanks to an Australian-born father, something Tennis NZ chief executive Steve Johns said was off his organisation's radar until the last fortnight.

"About two weeks ago she came and told us that she'd been talking with Tennis Australia and she was looking to change to play for Australia," he said. "It was totally out of the blue. We were very surprised, a bit shocked, disappointed - all those emotions.

"I think she'd made up her mind but we certainly did try and get her to change her mind."

NZ Herald.

New Zealand tennis number one Sacha Jones has withdrawn from next week's ASB Classic in Auckland.
Jones has been forced out of the tournament because of a stomach injury.
She was given a wildcard into the event.

Their careers have been heading in opposite directions in recent times, but New Zealand's top two tennis players, Sacha Jones and Marina Erakovic, could cross paths in Japan this week.
The draw for the US$75,000 ($103,500) ITF event in Tokyo had not been made at the time of writing, but the pair's names were nestled next to each other on the acceptance list, thanks to the closeness of their rankings.
And the chances of their meeting in the 32-player event seem strong, with Erakovic's pedigree and Jones' spectacular recent form suggesting both could go deep into the tournament.
For Erakovic, whose ranking has fallen to 233 from 60 at the start of the year, the event is a step down in class as she looks to gain some match play at the end of a season wrecked by injury.
For Jones, it is a step up from the four consecutive US$25,000 events she won in Australia and a recent US$50,000 event in Phoenix where she lost in the final.


The 19-year-old Jones also missed a significant part of the season with a shoulder injury but her career has been in the ascendancy of late, thanks to a run of 24 wins from 25 matches that has seen her ranking surge from 306 to its current career-high 168.
She overtook Erakovic as the country's top-ranked player this month, adding an extra level of intrigue to a possible head-to-head meeting between the two.
Erakovic has comfortably won both previous encounters but Jones was aged just 15 and 16 for those matches.
She would have form - Erakovic has posted just a 6-10 singles mark in comparison to Jones' 37-10 - and a couple of years' development on her side but Jones was reluctant to discuss how she might now match up against her fellow Kiwi.
"I've go no idea." She was also keen to avoid any talk of a potential rivalry developing between the pair.
"There are so many people who are ranked ahead of me that to focus on one person would be pretty stupid, I think," she said. "[Being] New Zealand No 1 is really cool. I'm really happy for Marina that she is healthy [now] and it was not particularly nice circumstances to become No 1.
"Hopefully both Marina and I will be healthy for a decent amount of time and do New Zealand proud."
Jones raised a few eyebrows when she turned down a wildcard for this year's ASB Classic to focus on training, but her recent results showed that was "100 per cent without doubt the right decision", she said.
"I wouldn't be talking to you about having won 24 [straight] matches if I hadn't have made that decision last year," she said.
"Everything that I worked on then is starting to pay off now. I had a lot of things that needed improving last year and they weren't just going to fix themselves."
Jones is expected to accept a wildcard into January's Classic. She should be much better prepared for the challenge than she was for her last appearance last year when as a 17-year-old she drew top seed Vera Zvonareva and was blown off centre court 6-0 6-1.
Although that match seemed like "a lifetime ago" it had helped Jones absorb some tough lessons.
"I was ranked around 300 and it was not fun to sit there with a lot of potential left untapped. It got to a point where it became unenjoyable for me.
"That was the time when I realised I needed to make some changes."

SACHA JONES NEW NZ NO. 1 -

18 yo Sacha Jones has become New Zealand's No 1 ranked tennis player after winning three consecutive ITF tournaments, remarkably defeating former top 10 player Alicia Molik on each occasion.

Jones ranking has risen to 208, passing former New Zealand No. 1 Marina Erakovic, whose ranking has slipped after injury.