Alex Eala claims her second Grand Slam at Roland Garros
For the second consecutive year, Alex Eala has won a junior Grand Slam in doubles. While last year, the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar player opened her major account at the Australian Open, on Saturday 12 June she added to it at the French Open alongside Oksana Selekhmeteva.
The 16-year-old Filipino and the Russian, with whom she forms a solid team, proved why they were the number one seeds by taking down Russian player Maria Bondarenko and the Hungarian Amarissa Kiara Toth in the final, 6-0, 7-5 in just 67 minutes.
“It means so much to me to have won the trophy today with my teammate Oksana”, said Eala, who climbed to a new high of No. 2 in the junior world ranking this year. “It was an incredible experience this week. I was unable to get the result I wanted in singles, but I’m happy to have recovered to fight for the doubles. I’ll never forget this week”.
As fate would have it, Court 13 was chosen for the girls’ junior doubles final, the same number where she won last year at Melbourne Park. Matilde Muñoz, one of her coaches at the Academy, was in the box to witness their stunning performances as they saw off Laskevich/Scherbinina (first round), Costoulas/Hietaranta (second round), Marcinko/Szabanin (quarter-finals) and Alvisi/Pigato (semi-finals) without losing a single set.
“They’ve been working well for a couple of weeks. They arrived in Paris after playing another final [at the $25,000 Platja d’Aro]”, explained Muñoz. “They started slightly hesitantly, a little distracted by singles defeats, but they were able to overcome that and they played increasingly well through the competition. They had some great matches and a good week. This win will give them a lot of confidence and energy to continue, because the work is tough and long, and these things always help you to keep working and believing in the process”.
Their next big challenge will come at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, where Alex will be back in the mix for the singles and doubles. Good luck at Wimbledon!
