Alex Eala, Russian partner win 2021 French Open Juniors’ doubles

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

A perfect ending after a shaky run.

After crashing out in the 2021 French Open Juniors’ singles, Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala came back with a much-needed sense of urgency together with partner Oksana Selekhmeteva in one of the most prestigious Grand Slam tournaments in tennis.

The dynamic duo took down Russia’s Maria Bondarenko and Hungary’s Amarissa Kiara Tith, 6-0, 7-5, and was hailed as queens of the clay court at Roland Garros, Paris, France.

Eala finally had her best service game from the doubles’ first round that quickly proved to be the difference in the first set.

The fast and heavy spin Eala’s first service brought to the opposition was too much and was never broken for the first 16 minutes of the finals clash.

Selekhmeteva did her thing and secured the whole net area following a heavy Eala service that became a quick 1-2 combination for the PH-RUS pairing that worked well.

However, Bondarenko and Tith tried to mount a comeback in the next set and got their groove in their baseline game that made the contest close.

Selekhmeteva answered the call and hit some timely defensive stop shots at the net that helped them regain the momentum in the middle part of the second set.

After a grueling battle in the second set, Eala and Selekhmeteva embraced and hugged each other and finally called themselves champions.

The clay court title was Eala’s second overall Grand Slam trophy after winning her first last Australian Open 2020.