Julia Jones of Largo moved into the semifinals of the girl’s under-16 USTA National Open in Montgomery, Ala. on Monday with a 6-2, 6-3 win against the tournament’s No.1 seed Whitney Kay of Alpharetta, Ga.

“It is a really good feeling, I am very happy,” Jones said by telephone. “I’ve been working a lot on my mental game, and my technique on hitting the ball, and it all came together today.”

Jones has been on a strong run of late, reaching the final of the last three tournaments she has competed in. Those three include the Florida State Closed Sectional two weeks ago, and the Gulfstream Designated Championship. In that final, Jones lost to Jennifer Pfeifler of Gulf Breeze 7-5, 6-2. Those two players will face off on Tuesday for a place in th National Open final, and Jones said she was looking forward to playing Pfeifler again.

“We’re good friends,” Jones said. “I played her a couple of weeks ago at a sectional, so I’m ready. I’m really excited, she’s a very good player.”