Alex Eala falls short in French Open debut vs Colombian foe
Philippines’ Alexandra Eala returns the ball to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
LIVE: Alex Eala at 2025 French Open first round vs Emiliana Arango
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala shook off a rough start and a rain delay, but couldn’t complete the comeback in her Grand Slam women’s singles main draw debut.
Eala fell short in her first French Open appearance, losing to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, 0-6, 6-2, 3-6, in the first round on Sunday (Manila time) at Court 6 of Roland Garros in Paris.
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The Filipino tennis sensation, who turned 20 on Friday, got blanked by the World No.85 Arango in the opening set, where Eala gave up 17 of her total 44 unforced errors in the match.
But the WTA World No.73 Eala put on a fight and recovered from a flat opening set with a strong 3-1 start in Set 2.
Philippines’ Alexandra Eala returns the ball to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Arango stopped the bleeding to cut Eala’s lead to one, but a rain delay led to a match suspension that lasted almost an hour.
When action resumed, Eala came out firing and won the next three games, capped by a dominant eighth game, to force a deciding third set.
READ: No slowing down Alex Eala’s ascent despite early exits
But Arango got her act together and blanked her younger rival in the first two games of the decider before Eala momentarily stopped her momentum with a much-needed third game win and kept the Colombian within striking distance until the score reached 4-3.
The 24-year-old Arango salvaged a hard-fought eight-game battle to move on the cusp of victory and unleashed her killer instinct in the ninth game with a 40-0 start before Eala scored a point.
The right-handed South American then nailed the match-winning smash to prevail after an hour and 46 minutes. She battles Qinwen Zheng of China in the second round.
Zheng, the tormentor of Eala in the Asian Games, kicked off her campaign with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.
Eala will also compete in the French Open doubles with Mexican partner Renata Zarazua, facing her Italian open tormentor Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania on Wednesday evening (Manila time).
