ALEX Eala’s debut in a grand slam main draw ended abruptly as she fell to fellow first-timer Emiliana Arango of Colombia, 0-6, 6-2, 3-6, on Sunday night in the opening round of the 2025 French Open.
The Filipina ranked No. 69 in the world recovered from a flat start that saw her lose the first set at love, taking the second set and staying close to Arango at 3-4 in a furious battle in the red clay of Roland Garros.
Arango, however, defiantly held serve for a 5-3 lead before putting an end to Eala's resistance with a break in the next game in a match that lasted an hour and 46 minutes and was briefly interrupted by rain.
READ Alex Eala has history to chase, and score to settle, at French Open
From her dream run in Miami last March that ended in a semifinal loss to Jessica Pegula — an achievement that catapulted her into the Top 100 with her biggest leap in the rankings, Eala has since struggled to maintain consistency.
Eala only advanced as far as the round of 64 in a WTA 1000 tournament since and reached the round of 16 in a WTA 125 event.
While she stunned top players including Iga Swiatek, Madison Keys, and Jelena Ostapenko at the Miami Open, she was unable to replicate that form in the three tournaments she joined leading up to the French Open, namely the Madrid Open, Italian Open, and Oeiras Ladies Open, culminating in a first-round exit at Roland Garros.
Against Arango, who is ranked slightly lower at No. 88 in the world, Eala was broken six times including thrice in the first set. She didn't win a game until the second set when she surged ahead 3-1, only for her momentum interrupted by a weather delay.
Although Eala went on to take the second set, Arango immediately broke Eala to take control in the deciding set. The Colombia ace secured another break to reach 5-3 before serving out for the match.
The Filipina isn't done at Roland Garros as she will return to action in the women's doubles with partner Renata Zarazua of Mexico, the world No. 74. They will face the Ukranian-Romanian pair of Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the opener.
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