Player Features
The rise of Jack Pinnington Jones: ‘Chilling is just not part of his DNA’
Exclusive insight from Pinnington Jones and his college coach
February 12, 2026
Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour
Jack Pinnington Jones is playing his first full season as a professional tennis player.
By Andrew Eichenholz
Jack Pinnington Jones, the former college tennis star at Texas Christian University, lost in the first round of qualifying at this year’s Australian Open to Gilles Arnaud Bailly. The next evening, the Briton began a 32-hour solo journey to Egypt for an ATP Challenger Tour event.
“I remember when I got to Egypt, I was like, ‘Oof, I’m going to be hurting for the next few days’. I woke up in the night, jet lagged, didn’t know where I was,” Pinnington Jones told ATPTour.com. “It was just a completely new experience and going from my first experience in Australia [for a] Grand Slam to a Challenger in Egypt where I didn’t know anyone, it was just a bit like, ‘You’re still 200 in the world. It’s all a journey’.”
Then No. 197 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Pinnington Jones had different thoughts going through his mind. The Briton had not been home since Thanksgiving, meaning two and a half consecutive months on the road. Maybe that would not be his week to shine.
Instead, Pinnington Jones made the final in Soma Bay and after qualifying for the Nexo Dallas Open and upsetting Flavio Cobolli in the main draw, he is up to No. 153 in the world.
“My body by the end of it wasn’t in good stead, but I made the final. I made the best of a tough situation with travel and everything like that,” Pinnington Jones said. “My team was great, rallying around me and saying, ‘No, you’ve just got to compete every match, and keep going, keep going, you never know what could happen.
“I feel like that’s the mindset I’m trying to take week in, week out.”
It has been a learning experience for Pinnington Jones, who this time a year ago was beginning his final spring season at TCU, where he competed for three years and earned All-American singles honours twice. A former junior World No. 6, the Briton followed in the footsteps of Top-100 players Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley, who also played for the Horned Frogs.
“It was a big change. Obviously being away from home for such an extended period of time for the first time, was a big shock,” Pinnington Jones said. “Having other British players on the team, like Jake Fearnley, Lui Maxted — who I knew from growing up — was a huge help. And the coaches and just the culture of TCU was great. I felt really welcomed and just sort of settled in after the first few weeks.”
Pinnington Jones competed under the leadership of head coach David Roditi, who explained that his former star player “was a big, huge personality” on their team.
“He brought a lot of that competitive spirit and that edginess of getting everybody to go a little further or compete a little harder or every day in practice,” Roditi said. “I think that helped our team a tonne. That was all Jack. Everybody knew that at the end of the day, winning was the main purpose out there. That’s what his personality was on the team.”
Pinnington Jones is first to admit that he enjoyed himself off the court, too. “He was trying to be a superhero: win on the court, and then win at night as well. I think eventually he learned that he can’t do both,” Roditi said.
“He’s just a big personality, and he was very social, and very playful. He loves to play, so he would get bored easily, and probably staying in his dorm or staying in his apartment and just chilling is just not part of his DNA.”
Since deciding to forego his senior season at TCU, Pinnington Jones has stepped into a new world. Instead of traveling with his team to different dual matches or tournaments, he is climbing the ATP Tour ladder.
“I did preseason in Florida, did Thanksgiving in Texas, and then I went to Hawaii, Australia, Doha, Egypt, London [and now] Dallas. I’ve basically done a loop,” Pinnington Jones said. “I’ve got a great team around me, I’m really thankful I’ve got support from the LTA and am leaning on them to sort of help guide me on how to manage the stresses, the travel, the stuff that I’m completely new to and leaning on them when I can. That’s the biggest thing.
“I’d say [it has been about] travel, jet lag, and then just trying to control what I control: going out, competing, practising the best I can, and just trying to improve.”
In the past year, Pinnington Jones has climbed more than 200 places in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Thanks to his college success, he was a multiple-time qualifier for the Next Gen Accelerator, which allows qualifiers to benefit from direct entry into ATP Challenger Tour events.
“It’s awesome. You look at just the guys, when I was in college who have come through: Jake Fearnley, Eliot Spizzirri, Ethan Quinn, just to name a few. Diallo and Shelton were just before me, but all of those guys. It just gives them a leg up,” Pinnington Jones said. “Their level is there, but they might not be ranked. When they’re playing at the top of the lineup for a great college team, the level’s really high.
“I remember all season long thinking, ‘I’ve got to keep playing well, I’ve got to make sure I’m earning these wild cards’, because I know it’s such a big boost to start your pro career.”
Before arriving in Dallas, Pinnington Jones spent a week at TCU with his former coaches and teammates, some of whom have been supporting him at the ATP 500 event.
“I spent three years at TCU. Fort Worth, and Texas feels like a second home in a way. There are so many great people that I have met along my journey through college here and so many of them have been coming out to support,” Pinnington Jones said. “It really feels like a home tournament and especially to have the run I’m having, it’s really special.”
