Camille Naredo

Alexandra Eala of the Philippines calls for a towel against Iga Swiatek of Poland during their match on Day 9 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 26, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida.

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 26: Alexandra Eala of the Philippines calls for a towel against Iga Swiatek of Poland during their match on Day 9 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 26, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida.   Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by AL BELLO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

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Miami Open Presented by Itau 2025 - Day 9

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748182230378AFP__20250327__2207055315__v3__Preview__MiamiOpenPresentedByItau2025Day9.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Alexandra Eala of the Philippines calls for a towel against Iga Swiatek of Poland during their match on Day 9 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 26, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Al Bello, Getty Images/AFP "/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Alexandra Eala of the Philippines calls for a towel against Iga Swiatek of Poland during their match on Day 9 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 26, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. <em>Al Bello, Getty Images/AFP </em></span></span></span></div><p>(<strong>UPDATED</strong>) Filipina tennis star Alex Eala bowed out of the French Open in the first round after a three-set loss to fellow debutant Emiliana Arango of Colombia on Sunday.</p><p>Eala got off to a sluggish start and then fell behind early in the third set before succumbing to a 0-6, 6-2, 3-6 defeat. </p><p>The Filipina had struggled with her errors in the opening frame before discovering her rhythm in the second -- despite a lengthy weather delay that interrupted their match.</p><p>Up 3-2 when rain forced a stop to the action, Eala reeled off three straight games upon the resumption of play to send the match to a decider.</p><p>Unfortunately for Eala, Arango zoomed to a 2-0 lead in the third and while she cut into the deficit, the Colombian did enough to stay in control.</p><p>Eala showed great fight in the seventh game, uncorking a forehand winner to hold her serve and get within one, 3-4. But Arango was poised as well, and an unforced error from the Filipina gave her the eighth game and a 5-3 advantage.</p><p>Arango then proceeded to break Eala&#x27;s serve to win the match after an hour and 46 minutes. </p><p>The Colombian dominated the long rallies and benefited from 44 unforced errors by Eala to score the win.</p><p>The 20-year-old Eala had made history as the first Filipina to compete in a Grand Slam. Her profile had grown considerably in the past couple of months thanks to a Cinderella run in the Miami Open, where she defeated a handful of former Grand Slam winners to reach the semifinal.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/5/25/filipino-trailblazer-eala-set-for-grand-slam-debut-in-paris-0929">READ: Filipino trailblazer Eala set for Grand Slam debut in Paris</a></div><p>She is also 0-2 now against world No. 88 Arango, who beat her when they played in Miami in 2024.</p><p>While it&#x27;s back to the drawing board for Eala, Arango will move on to play Olympic champion and eighth seeded Zheng Qinwen in the second round.</p><p>Zheng beat former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-3 in a tricky first-round assignment on Sunday.</p><p>The eighth seed is returning to Paris for the first time since winning gold at last year&#x27;s Olympics. -- with Agence France-Presse</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BE6XZALgSCE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Filipina tennis star Alex Eala bowed out of the French Open in the first round after a three-set loss to fellow debutant Emiliana Arango of Colombia on Sunday.</p>

Filipina tennis star Alex Eala bowed out of the French Open in the first round after a three-set loss to fellow debutant Emiliana Arango of Colombia on Sunday.

Comeback falls short as Alex Eala loses to Arango in French Open

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Comeback falls short as Alex Eala loses to Arango in French Open

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 25, 2025 09:36 PM PHT

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Updated May 25, 2025 10:10 PM PHT

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Emiliana Arango

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