By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala finally nailed her first main draw win at a Grand Slam event as she and Mexican partner Renata Zarazua outplayed British Emily Appleton and Spaniard Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers, 7-5, 6-4, to jumpstart their women’s doubles campaign at the French Open on Tuesday, May 27 (early Wednesday, Philippine time).
The unseeded Eala and Zarazua displayed on-court brilliance in outlasting their rivals to advance to the second round.
It was a historic feat for Eala, who has already seen action in all four Grand Slam tournaments since 2023 but only in the qualifying rounds of the women’s singles
The win set them up a date with the dangerous Anastasia Potapova and Serbian Olga Danilovic, who shocked American seventh seeds Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk, who is of Filipino descent on her mother’s side, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The victory over Appleton and Cavalle-Reimers, however, didn’t come easy for Eala and Zarazua.
The Filipino-Mexican pair had to work hard before wiping out a 2-4 deficit to claim the opening set, and held their ground against their rival counters in the second frame to prevail.
Trailing 2-4 in the second set, Appleton and Cavalle-Reimers managed to tie the match at 4-all, before Eala and Zarazua kept their composure and claimed the next two games and eventually the victory after one hour and 30 minutes.
Eala’s doubles win came a few days after succumbing in her first-round singles match to Colombian Emiliana Arango, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.
Despite focusing on her singles, Eala also proved to be a competitive doubles player with three International Tennis Federation (ITF) crowns with different partners and a recent quarterfinals finish with Coco Gauff at the Italian Open last week.
