Bittersweet history: Alex Eala opener falls short, bows out of first-ever French Open

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Alex Eala continues to learn the ropes while tangling with historic highs as she quickly bows out from her first career Grand Slam singles main draw against Colombia's Emiliana Arango in the 2025 French Open

MANILA, Philippines – A year ago, Alex Eala fell to Colombian Emiliana Arango in three tight sets in the last round of the WTA 1000 Miami Open qualifiers. Arango, then ranked 123 in the world, came back from a set down to defeat the then world No. 171 Eala, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6.

Eala attempted to do the same this time around by staging her own rally from a set down. She fell short.

World No. 88 Arango showed the exit door to the world No. 69 Eala, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3, in the women’s singles opening round of the 2025 French Open on Sunday, May 25, at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, France.

Eala already made history as the first Filipino, male or female, to ever play in the singles main draw of a Grand Slam event in the open era, but the chance to add to that record by advancing deeper in a Grand Slam will have to wait until Wimbledon this June.

Arango’s fine form was evident in the opening set which was over in just 30 minutes. The 24-year-old set the tone early by showing no respect for Eala’s serve, holding three break points before pocketing the very first game to go up, 1-0.

The rest of the set was simply a display of sheer dominance by Arango who broke Eala two more times while holding serve thrice, with all the five games not even going to deuce as the Colombian blanked the Filipina, 6-0.

Eala came roaring back in the second set, gaining her first service break in the fourth game to go up 3-1. Although Arango showed signs of resistance by inching closer at 3-2, Eala broke her Colombian foe two more times to close out the set in the eighth game, 6-2.

Just when Eala appeared to have seized not just the momentum but also control of the match, Arango proved she still had plenty of fight left in her, immediately opening a 2-0 lead and forcing Eala to try to play catch up the rest of the way.

Arango did not give Eala the opportunity to even tie the count. Down 3-5 with still a slim chance to narrow the deficit, Eala had no answers to her aggressive foe who did not allow the Filipina any comeback hopes.

Arango broke serve one last time in the ninth game to end the match after an hour and fifty minutes.

She will now advance to the second round against world No. 8 and Paris Olympics women’s singles gold medalist Qinwen Zheng of China.

Eala will still be in the French Open, however, when she competes in the first round of the women’s doubles on Wednesday, May 28, with partner Renata Zarazua, a quarterfinalist in the doubles competition of this year’s Australian Open.

The two, however, will be coming in as the clear underdogs when they face Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania. As a tandem, Kostyuk and Ruse reached the semifinals of the 2023 Australian Open and the 2024 French Open. – Rappler.com