Eala eyes second grandslam win in Roland Garros

MANILA, Philippines — Young Filipina tennis star Alex Eala eyes a second career junior grandslam title in the French Open.

Currently the world’s No. 4 junior player, the 15-year-old ace will vie in both the singles and the doubles  where she will partner with American Elvina Kalieva.

Kalieva, 17, was also Eala’s teammate in the 2019 US Open, where they were booted out in the second round.

This will be Eala’s second Roland Garros stint after being a wildcard qualifier in 2018.

Eala will troop into the clay joust beaming with confidence after a non-stop training as a scholar at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain.

She’s looking to follow up her historic grandslam win in the Australian Open girls’ doubles with Indonesian pal Priska Madelyn Nugroho last February before the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed most tennis events.

The French Open is the concluding junior grandslam tourney this year after the scrapping of Wimbledon and the exclusion of juniors event in the US Open last month.