Britain's Francesca Jones defends Challenger title in Palermo
Francesca Jones successfully defended her Palermo Ladies Open title, defeating Fiona Ferro in a three-set thriller.
Britain's Francesca Jones made it back-to-back wins on the Challenger Tour by successfully defending her title at the Palermo Ladies Open. The top seed beat Fiona Ferro 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in two hours and 43 minutes.
Jones, who dropped only one set in the entire tournament, took the opener in just 21 minutes. She then fought back from 3-0 down to lead 4-3 in the second, but Ferro won three straight games to level the match.
A tight deciding set went to a tiebreak, where French seventh seed Ferro had a match point at 6-5 but failed to convert, allowing Jones to close out victory. It was her fourth career Challenger title and second in eight days, following a win at the ATV Rome Open.
"We both deserved to win. It was a close match until the end, and we did everything we could," said Jones, who had beaten Anouk Koevermans of the Netherlands in the 2025 final.
Bradford-born Jones will rise from 113 to 110 in the WTA rankings on Monday after this success.
