When Wimbledon starts next Monday, July 1, all eyes will be on the likes of Roger Federer and Serena Williams, as the two greats look to add another title to their illustrious careers.

18-year-old Fran Jones deserves a special mention, though, having overcome some pretty stiff odds to earn a Wimbledon wild card spot.

Jones has ectrodactyly-ectodermal dysplasia cleft lip/palate , which is commonly known as EED or EEC, a condition that means she was born with webbed fingers.

It hasn’t been an easy journey, as the Telegraph reports:

…after countless operations, today [she] has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, four toes on her left foot, and just three toes on her right foot.

Her missing digits affect her racket grip and her balance, and medical professionals told her that becoming a top tennis player would be “impossible”.

But the young player has worked hard to defy the odds, ranking in the top 300 in the world.

That ranking landed her the wild card spot, and she’s not about to slow down, either.

Having left the UK at the age of nine for Barcelona, where she’s been training at the same academy as Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, she’s now aiming for the very top:

Her aim is to be the best player in the world, which she says takes “constant hard work and really pushing your limits”.

“I know that I’ve struggled so far throughout my years in tennis, and I’m not expecting to just see rainbows and unicorns when I hopefully make it to the top,” she said.

“But I don’t think anyone should be limited by other people’s opinions.”

If you ask her coach, Albert Portas, her achievements are worthy of being singled out:

[He] said that she is “more impressive” than the other players that have made it through to the Wimbledon tournament.

He said: “She’s not like the rest of the players. Of course she has to work specifically on some things, especially on taking care of her body a little differently.

“But as you can see, now she’s in the top 300. I think she has no limits.”

It remains to be seen whether she can progress past the opening round of matches, but just making it onto the grass courts of Wimbledon is a pretty fine achievement.

Goran Ivanisevic famously won Wimbledon back in 2001 after being a wild card entry, so I guess anything is possible.

[source:telegraph]