By MARK REY MONTEJO
From friends to enemies, but only on the court – clay in particular.
Filipina ace Alex Eala and American Iva Jovic, two of the sport’s rising stars, will put friendship on the back burner as they were drawn against each other in the opening round of the WTA 1000 French Open (Roland Garros) in Paris on Sunday, May 24.
While both Eala And Jovic expressed sadness over their looming showdown, they vowed to give their fans a first-class entertainment especially after coming off painful early exits at the Strasbourg Open last week.
The other reason why their match could possibly draw more attention than others is that the two charming ladies also intend to improve on their first-round showing the last time, and beating one another is the only way.
This also marks their first singles showdown between 20-year-old Eala and 18-year-old Jovic in the professional circuit.
But that is just the start of what could be another exciting but challenging journey for the two former doubles partner in the event headlined by world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Reigning champion Coco Gauff of USA and three-time French Open winner Iga Swiatek of Poland are once again fancied to do well in the French capital.
Eala, currently ranked No. 38 in the world, must switch to ‘war mode’ against No. 17 Jovic if she wishes to go deep.
In the Strasbourg Open, Eala yielded to Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, while Jovic lost to compatriot Emma Navarro, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6.
Eala and Jovic had partnered twice – first in the ASB Classic in New Zealand where they reached the semis and the second in the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) in Southern California where they failed to get past the opening round.
In reaching the semis, Eala and Jovic made heads turn after beating multi-Grand Slam champion American Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 7-6(7), 6-1, in the opener.
Meanwhile, Eala’s other friend Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey will be up against Australian Daria Kasatkina.
