Filipina tennis teen star Alex Eala repeated her French Open semifinal appearance this year – but this time in the doubles event with Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva – after winning their game on June 10.
The Philippines-Russia pair of Eala and Selekhmeteva defeated Petra Marcinko (Serbia) and Natalia Szabanin (Hungary) 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5), in the girls doubles quarterfinals.
When they outlasted the European duo in a neck-and-neck first set, Eala and Selekhmeteva were 4-1 before their opponents rallied back to knot the score at 4-4. The second set went into another tiebreaker, that witnessed the Filipino-Russian pair emerging victorious with three straight games.
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The 16-year-old Filipina had earlier suffered a shock exit in the first round of the singles event, though Selekhmeteva had nailed a semifinal berth on Thursday.
In 2020, Eala became the first Filipino in 35 years since Felix Barrientos to make a Grand Slam juniors singles semifinal appearance at Roland Garros.
She is now on track to win her second Grand Slam title — since the 2020 Australian Open girls doubles tournament where she raised the trophy with Indonesian Priska Nugroho. (AW)
