“Heart worked too much”
Tennis professional collapses on the pitch
03.04.2025 – 02:32 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
A tennis tournament in Colombia is overshadowed by dramatic scenes. The British tennis player Francesca Jones collapses during a match.
Francesca Jones collapsed at the Colsanitas Cup in Bogota in the last sentence of her game. The 24-year-old British had to be treated on the square on Tuesday evening and finally driven away in a wheelchair. Pictures on social media showed the incident. The match against Argentine Julia Riera ended in favor of the opponent.
The 24-year-old collapsed in the third set with a gap of 3: 5 when she started to serve and did not hit the ball. She went down. The medical team hurried and treated them on site before they were brought off the pitch under the applause of the spectators.
The tennis match took place in Bogota, which is about 2,640 meters above sea level, which has often led to problems with athletes. It is still unclear whether the altitude was the reason for Jones’ collapse. Further investigations should clarify this.
The tournament organizers said in a brief message: “Due to a physical problem, Francesca Jones against Julia Riera gave up her match at 6: 2 5: 7 5: 3 in favor of the Argentine. We wish the British tennis player an early recovery.”
Jones later gave an update to her condition on social media and posted on Instagram: “Apart from my light warm -up training before the game, I was confronted with the limited oxygen content and high intensity for the first time. In the further course of the game, I worked hard to stay competitive and at the same time get used to the conditions, but it was increasingly difficult for me.” She added: “We carried out several examinations overnight and it seems that my heart had worked a little too much that day, but fortunately it had no long -term effects.”
Jones is currently in 129th place in the world rankings in the women’s singles and reached her career high last month with 123th place. She has to fight with physical challenges because it was born with the rare genetic disease ectrodactylia (ectodermal dysplasia). She lacks a finger on both hands and she only has seven toes. Ending games was a challenge throughout her career, since Jones repeatedly suffered from strong cramps. It is the 19th time that she gave up during a game and the second time this year.