“‹Alex Eala clinched her second Grand Slam title Saturday after she and her Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva took home the 2021 French Open girls doubles champions at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France.
The top-seeded Eala and Selekhmeteva started strong and finished off Russian Maria Bondarenko and Amarisa Toth of Hungary, 6-0, 7-5, to capture the doubles crown.
The victory was an exciting one for the 16-year old Eala, who reached the semifinals of the girls singles last year.
“As I say, I am really excited for this tournament and being here brings back memories from last year’s Roland Garros when I progressed to the last four and made a bit of history,” said Eala in her blog before the start of the competition.
By making the singles semis last year and claiming the doubles crown this year, Eala earned the distinction of being the first player from the Philippines to make ripples in a Grand Slam event in 35 years, ever since Felix Barrientos was at Wimbledon back in 1985.
The world no. 3 ITF junior ranked Eala and Selekhmeteva (world no. 10) took 47 minutes to get past Bondarenko and Toth.