Tennis – Madrid Open – Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain – April 24, 2025 Philippines’ Alexandra Eala reacts during her round of 64 match against Poland’s Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Juan Medina
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala makes her Grand Slam women’s singles main draw debut against Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in the first round of the 2025 French Open on Sunday afternoon (Manila time).
Eala, who turns 20 on Friday, was drawn in Section 2 of the bracket and will take on the World No. 88, a three-time ITF champion. Arango, 24, reached a career-high WTA ranking of No. 79.
READ: Alex Eala improves to 69 in WTA rankings before French Open
The Filipino tennis sensation carries momentum from her dream run at the Miami Open 2025, where she stunned the tennis world by defeating three Grand Slam champions — Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and three-time Roland Garros winner Iga Swiatek — en route to the semifinals.
That helped Eala to a new career-high ranking of World No. 69 and earned her a direct berth in the main draw at Roland Garros.
Eala is on a collision course with her 2023 Asian Games semifinals tormentor, Qinwen Zheng of China. If she advances, she faces the winner of the match between Zheng and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Swiatek, seeded fifth, is in Section 4 and opens against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova. Also in that section are Emma Raducanu, who faces China’s Xin Wang, as well as Ostapenko and Elena Rybakina.
Italy’s Jasmine Paolini meets Yuan Yue in the first round. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka begins her campaign against Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia, while Eala’s Italian Open doubles partner Coco Gauff, the No. 2 seed, faces Australia’s Olivia Gadecki.
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