British number seven Fran Jones, from Oxenhope, suffered heartbreak in Australian Open qualifying earlier this week.

The Keighley district youngster started out with a 6-2 6-4 win against France's Margaux Rouvroy in her opener and looked all set to reach to the final round of qualifying against Ella Seidel.

Jones led the German teenager 4-0 at one point in the third set but, not for the first time, the 23-year-old, who only has seven toes, was struck down by cramp and retired in tears at 6-3 6-7 (5) 4-4.

Jones had battled back from 1-4 down in the second set to force a decider, which she was dominating after gaining momentum from winning that earlier tiebreak.

She even had three chances to open up a 5-0 lead before, with the umpire threatening to give her a game penalty as she struggled to move behind the baseline, she was forced to call it quits and was helped off the court.

Three other Brits bowed out at the same stage as Jones, including Harriet Dart, who suffered a disappointing 6-4 6-4 loss against Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva.

On the men’s side of the draw, Billy Harris lost 3-6 6-3 6-2 to eighth seed David Goffin and Ryan Peniston was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Aziz Dougaz.

Of the eight British players to enter at the qualifying stage, only Oliver Crawford made it into the final round.

But the 24-year-old, who recently switched nationality from his native USA courtesy of his British parents, lost 6-4 6-4 to Czech Vit Kopriva in hot conditions at Melbourne Park to miss out on the main draw.

The defeat meant Crawford, ranked 213, was unable to make it through to the main draw of a slam for the first time.

His loss means seven British players will contest the main draw - Andy Murray, Emma Raducanu, Cameron Norrie, Katie Boulter, Dan Evans, Jack Draper and Jodie Burrage.

The first round of the tournament gets underway tomorrow.