HOPING to stay alive in the women’s doubles circuit of her first Grand Slam, Alex Eala and partner Renata Zarazua of Mexico will test their fate against the gritty pair of Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova of Russia for a spot in the Round of 16 of the 2025 French Open.
The Filipino, ranked 73rd in the world, and the No. 74 Mexican are coming off a straight-sets trouncing of Emily Appleton and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers, 7-5, 6-4, in their opening match earlier this week.
Meanwhile, their opponents, who are ranked No. 34 and No. 37, respectively, are fresh from a three-set thriller—1-6, 6-4, 7-5 - upsetting the tournament’s seventh-seeded American pair, Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk.
Russian-Serbian connection
While it’s only Eala and Zarazua’s second match as partners, Danilovic and Potapova are more familiar with each other, playing their second Grand Slam together.
They first saw action last January in the Australian Open, where they bowed out early in the Round of 64 after a loss to Hao-Ching Chan and Lyudmyla Kichenok.
Danilovic remains Serbia’s top female player in the WTA. Potapova also has a WTA 250 title under her belt, winning in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania last February.
From their end, both Eala and Zarazua are dead set on doubles play after falling in the first round of their respective singles matches.
Both pairs are eyeing their first Grand Slam doubles titles. They are set to meet on Friday night, at 9:20 PM, Manila time.
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