Alex Eala gets to work at French Open Juniors

Alex Eala looks for twin wins on Monday night to continue his strong start at the French Open Juniors Championship over the weekend.

Coming off a 6-4, 6-1 takedown of Hungary’s Natalia Szabanin that lasted 70 minutes into the tournament opener, second-seeded Eala collides with Germany’s Mara Guth in the second round.

Non-seeded Guth, meanwhile, scored a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card bet Sarah Iliev of France.

This will be the second time Eala will face Guth.

The PH bet prevailed in their first match at the Osaka Mayor’s Cup Super Junior Tennis World Championships in Japan last year. Eala recorded a 6-4, 6-3 victory in their semi-final matchup.

17-year-old Guth, who is two years older than Eala, is currently ranked 57th with two individual clay titles under her belt: the 2019 TC Bakkum Dutch Junior Open in the Netherlands and the 2018 NRW Junior Open in Germany.

Eala also begins her women’s doubles campaign with American Elina Kalieva on the same day (early Tuesday in Manila) when the third seed collides with Italian tandem Lisa Pigato and Eleonora Alvisi.

Eala is looking to win her second Grand Slam title after winning the 2020 Australian Open women’s doubles crown with fellow Indonesian Priska Nugroho last January.