Britain's Jones defends Challenger title in Palermo

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 had dropped one set all tournament, took the opener in just 21 minutes.The 25-year-old then fought back from 3-0 down to lead 4-3 in the second, but Ferro reeled off three straight games to level the match.A tight deciding set went all the way to a tie break, where the French seventh seed spurned match point at 6-5, allowing Jones to close out victory.It was her fourth career win on the Challenger Tour and second in eight days, following a victory 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 beat Anouk Koevermans of the Netherlands to win the title in 2025.Bradford-born Jones will rise from 113 to 110 in the WTA rankings on Monday following this success.