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AAP
AAP
Darren Walton

Aussie Jones powers into Open junior girls' semi-finals

Australian Emerson Jones is through to the junior singles semi-finals at Melbourne Park. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Gold Coast super talent Emerson Jones is two wins away from breaking a 30-year title drought after surging into the Australian Open junior semi-finals in Melbourne.

The top-seeded Jones fought back from a set down to defeat Austrian Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-2 6-2 on Thursday, remaining on track to become the first Australian since Siobhan Drake-Brockman in 1995 to win the girls title at Melbourne Park.

Emerson Jones
Emerson Jones during her Australian Open junior girls quarter-final win on Thursday. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

She then backed up on Thursday night to surge into the girls doubles final, partnering Great Britain's Hannah Klugman.

Runner-up in both the Australian Open and Wimbledon girls finals last year, Jones is the world's top-ranked junior and already drawing comparisons to retired great Ash Barty.

The teenager will face Japan's Wakana Sonobe after the fourth seed overcame another Australian, Tahlia Kokkinis, 6-2 6-4 in their quarter-final later on Thursday.

Tahlia Kokkinis
Queenslander Tahlia Kokkinis has fallen at the quarter-final stage of the girls tournament. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Queensland 16-year-old Kokkinis, who was handed a wildcard entry, was unable to keep her giant-killing streak going.

After being outplayed in the first set, Kokkinis broke her more fancied rival to take a 4-2 lead in the second.

But a medical time-out interrupted her flow and Sonobe struck back, breaking the home hope's serve to level at 4-4 and then again to wrap up the victory.

In the girls doubles, second seeds Jones and Klugman downed Czech duo Tereza Krejcova and Vendula Valdmannova 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

In the title decider they will take on American identical twins Annika and Kristina Penickova, who are the sixth seeds.

The 15-year-old twins overcame another sister combination in Czech pair Alena and Jana Kovackova in their semi-final.

Kristina Penickova is also into the final four of the girls singles and will face Slovakia's Mia Pohankova.

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