Billie Jean King mourns the irreplaceable loss of 'passionate and dedicated coach' Alan Jones as she sends condolences to his loved ones

Durie took to X to share that Jones passed away on Sunday due to a short-term illness. She also talked about his contributions to the tennis world and how dear he was to the British tennis player. Durie called Jones a “giant in the tennis world“.

Utterly devastated to announce that Alan Jones,my longtime coach,mentor & friend has passed away after a short illness. Alan coached generations of players & influenced the lives of so many. A giant in the tennis world. I was so lucky to call him my friend Jo Durie wrote on X

As soon as this piece of news reached Billie Jean King, the tennis legend shared her condolences to Jones’ family. She talked about the British tennis coach’s passion and dedication and remembered how she eagerly waited to catch up with him during Wimbledon.

Our sport has lost a passionate and dedicated coach. I always looked forward to catching up with Alan at Wimbledon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. May he rest in peace. Billie Jean King wrote about Alan Jones’ demise

Alan Jones and his contribution to the growth of tennis in Britain

Alan Jones was a renowned and the longest-serving performance coach from Great Britain. The 75-year-old coached generations of players in over 53 years of his service. As many as 33 of his students went on to play the biggest tennis tournament in the country- The Championships.

Jones also helped top players in the country fine-tune their performances. His contribution can be measured by the fact that seven British women players coached by him later on went on to become world number one.

His list of students includes Jo Durie (career-high ranking of World No. 5 WTA), Elena Baltacha (career-high ranking of World No. 49 WTA), Laura Robson (career-high ranking of World No. 27 WTA), Jeremy Bates (career-high ranking of World No. 54 ATP), and Anne Keothavong (career-high rankings of World No. 48 WTA).

The tennis performance coach also worked with the Unique Tennis Academy. Now, that he is gone, Jones will be dearly missed.