Alex Eala seeded second in Roland Garros junior singles tournament
FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala begins her French Open junior tournament campaign this coming weekend as the second seed.
In the latest rankings released by the International Tennis Federation, 16-year-old Eala, the world’s number three junior player, will be playing as the second seed in the Roland Garros Junior Championships from June 6 to 12.
The Rafa Nadal Academy scholar and long-time Globe ambassador is seeking to extend what has been a solid year for her, including winning her first professional singles title at W15 Manacor in Mallorca, Spain, in January then recording three consecutive quarterfinal appearances in her next three tournaments.
She is also doing well in doubles competitions, recently reaching the finals of the W25 Platja D’Aro doubles event in Spain with her Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva.
Last year, Ms. Eala had a banner season as a junior player, winning the 2020 Australian Open girls’ doubles with Indonesian pal Priska Madelyn Nugroho and later barging into the semifinals of the French Open junior singles championship.
In the 2021 edition of the Roland Garros junior competition, Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva of Andorra is the top seed.
At third is Polina Kudermetova of Russia followed by compatriot Diana Shnaider.
Fifth seed is American Robin Montgomery. France’s Océane Babel is sixth, followed by Belarus’ Kristina Dmitruk (seventh), Russia’s Selekhmeteva (eighth), Hungary’s Natalia Szabanin (ninth), and Russia’s Maria Bondarenko (10th).
The official draw of matches is still to be released. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
