Overtime

Alex Eala falls to France’s Jacquemot; bids farewell to 2020 French Open

Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala bowed to third seed Elsa Jacquemot with a commanding straight-set win, 6-3, 6-2, ending her historic run in the semifinals of the girls' singles competition of the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris.

/ 10 October 2020

Things went pretty uptight as Jacquemot started strong in the first set already dominating the match with a lead 3-2. 

Eala at that moment found it problematic on returning the serve back to Jacquemot as she gunned the 15-year-old netter with back-to-back powerful service aces. 

17-year-old Jacquemot held at love for 4-2 lead that consolidated her dominance in the match. 

It was a noteworthy stint of Eala from there as Jacquemot advanced to the finals and will be facing Alina Charaeva of Russia.

Nonetheless, Eala graces herself out in the competition with 490 massive points.

It was indeed a long journey for the Filipina tennis netter as she had overcome a lot of powerful opponents namely, Natalia Szabanin of Hungary, Mara Guth of Germany, Leyre Romero Gormaz of Spain, and Linda Noskova of Czech Republic.

Eala outmatched Noskova in the quarterfinals with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, Thursday night (Manila time).

Noskova started the game with authority as she claimed the first set with a crucial point in the 10th frame, gaining an edge from Eala.

The Filipina sensation then found her pace in the second set bucking a lead of 3-0 which led to a decider. 

Eala played aggressively in the third set although Noskova took the lead in the opening with a score of 3-1, however, Eala is not one to bow down as she ended the set with 6-2.

Eala sets the bar on the prestigious league to break the record as the first-ever Filipina to reach a Grand Slam semifinals after 35 years, even matched Filipino tennis great Felix Barrientos’ stint who reached the semifinals in Wimbledon in 1985.