Mirra Andreeva thinks Emerson Jones should ignore the Ashleigh Barty and Maria Sharapova comparisons, and instead only focus on her own path.
Jones, who celebrated her 17th birthday in July, is one of the promising and talented young Australian players.
Exactly 12 months, the rising Australian star clinched her maiden WTA main draw win after beating world No. 57 Wang Xinyu in Adelaide. The teenager also competed well against Daria Kasatkina before falling short to the eight-time WTA champion.
Since then, Jones has won two ITF titles and finished as runner-up in two more ITF tournaments. Also, the 17-year-old started this week by enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 147 and by clinching her second WTA main draw win after ousting Tatjana Maria in the Brisbane first round.
Since Ashleigh Barty's shocking retirement in 2022, Australian tennis has been waiting for a talent to break out and do some great things for their tennis. The 17-year-old's early results led to the Australian public comparing her to the 2022 Australian Open champion and Russian tennis tennis icon Maria Sharapova.
Andreeva, who is 18 and has enjoyed a lightning start to her career, was asked in Brisbane what advice she would give to the rising Australian star amid the comparisons she has been drawing.
Andreeva to Jones: Don't focus on what people say, you are Emerson, not Barty
"She's playing very well at such a young age, and I just think that if I had a chance to tell her something, maybe I would have said not to focus on whatever people say, because there's going to be a lot of people that would say, 'Oh, you're going to be the next Sharapova or the next Ash Barty,'" the 18-year-old Russian explained.
"You just have to focus that you are is who you are, and you have your own career and you have your own path. I'm Mirra Andreeva. She's Emerson Jones. She's not going to be the next Ash Barty, because Ash Barty stopped her career. She's not playing anymore. She's going to have her own career, and I think she should focus on making her own path in tennis."
Meanwhile, Jones' Brisbane run ended with a round-of-16 loss to Liudmila Samsonova, while Andreeva is due to face Linda Noskova in the same stage.
