Johannus Monday and Fran Jones get Wimbledon wild card in nod to Yorkshire tennis

Two of Yorkshire’s emerging tennis talents have been handed wildcards into Wimbledon.

Francesca Jones of Bradford and Hull’s Johannus Monday were two of 14 British players yesterday awarded a place in the singles’ draw at the All England Club for a tournament that begins on Monday, June 30.

The pair will head to SW19 alongside fellow British wildcards Dan Evans, Henry Searle, Jay Clarke, Jack Pinnington Jones, George Loffhagen and Oliver Crawford.

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Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Heather Watson are all women’s wildcards, with rising stars Hannah Klugman, Mimi Xu and Mika Stojsavljevic also set to feature.

On his way: Johannus Monday pictured in action against Alastair Gray at the Lexus Ilkley Open last week will make his Wimbledon debut later this month (Picture: Simon Hulme)placeholder image
On his way: Johannus Monday pictured in action against Alastair Gray at the Lexus Ilkley Open last week will make his Wimbledon debut later this month (Picture: Simon Hulme)

Fellow Brits Jack Draper, Jacob Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and Billy Harris all gained direct entry to the men’s singles draw.

It will be 24-year-old Jones’ third appearance at Wimbledon, where she was beaten in the first round in 2021 and last year.

Monday, 23, has never played a grand slam singles match.

He won three times on the ITF tour late last year and reached the last-16 of the Challenger event at Ilkley last week.

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Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith said: "We’re also really happy to see such a younger group of players get the opportunity to play at Wimbledon and hopefully get better.

"It’s what we’re striving for in British tennis. We’ve been so fortunate to have Andy Murray spearheading what’s been happening at the highest level of the men’s game over the past decade.

"A lot of the younger players will have grown up watching Andy and been inspired by him and you now have Jack Draper at No.4 in the world, one of the top players globally to look up to.

"Dan (Evans) has been superb. He has had some injury issues but he beat Frances Tiafoe in a brilliant match and he absolutely deserves the opportunity to play again at The Championships.”

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On the women's side, Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal all gain direct entry, with Kartal returning a year after becoming the first British woman to reach the third round as a qualifier since 1997.

After her run to the French Open girls’ singles final, Hannah Klugman will make her senior grand alam main draw debut, after falling one step short of reaching the final round of qualifying last year.

Fellow rising stars Mimi Xu and 2024 US Open girls’ singles champion Mika Stojsavljevic will join Klugman, along with Fran Jones, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Heather Watson.

The LTA’s head of women's tennis Iain Bates said: "It’s really good that Wimbledon have supported such a wide player group for wildcard opportunities this year.

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"We had a brilliant event at Queen’s last week and to see so many people support the women’s tennis only event was really special.

"To see Emma, Katie and Sonay supported so well by the British crowd added something so cool and new to the grass court calendar but then at the same time with the 125 at Birmingham and Ilkley, you had the opportunity for some of the youngsters like Mimi Xu and Amarni Banks reaching quarterfinals and that’s what the grass court season is all about.

"It’s about giving players the opportunities to play at the highest level and at the biggest events and as we hoped, players have managed to seize those opportunities."

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