Alexandra Eala suffers shock exit on historic French Open debut

Alexandra Eala crashed out of the opening round of the 2025 French Open at Roland-Garros on Sunday (25 May).

Just two days after celebrating her 20th birthday, Eala became the first tennis player from the Philippines to appear in the main draw of a Grand Slam in the Open era.

But the left-hander's stay in Paris was cut short as she went down 0-6, 6-2, 3-6 to Colombian clay-court specialist Emiliana Arango.

Eala, who made headlines with her run to the semi-finals of March's Miami Open - beating Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek on the way - made a nightmare start.

The continuous 'Let's go Alex' chants from her fans in the stands had no impact as she struggled in windy conditions. Eala hit just five winners against 17 unforced errors, and was broken three times as she dropped the first set in just 31 minutes.

A near hour-long rain delay with Eala 3-2 up in the second set worked wonders for the Filipina with the wind dying down. When play resumed, she won the next three games to take the match into a decider.

However, the errors returned with a vengeance at the start of the third set. She sent a routine forehand volley wide to make it 0-30 with Arango, also making her Slam main draw debut, breaking to love.

The world number 88 was not short of support herself, and her greater patience saw her dominate extended rallies. Eala fought hard but was unable to break back.

And with the 2022 US Open junior champion serving to stay at the match at 3-5, more unforced errors handed Arango three match points. Eala saved the first, but a down-the-line forehand saw the Colombian close out victory in an hour and 46 minutes.

Arango will now take on Qinwen Zheng after the Olympic champion defeated 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets.

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