Eala opens French Open campaign vs Jovic

MANILA, Philippines — Tennis sensation Alex Eala of the Philippines faces a tough opening round test at the 2026 French Open, where she takes on world No. 17 Iva Jovic of the United States on May 24 at the Stade-Roland Garros in Paris, France

This will be the first time the 20-year-old Eala, currently ranked 38th in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), will play against the 18-year-old Jovic.

Eala and Jovic, however, teamed up in the 2026 ASB Classic doubles event and scored a major upset win against tennis legends Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina en route to reaching the semifinals. The duo, however, bowed to the third-seeded Chinese pair of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan in the next round.

Five months into the 2026 season, Eala has competed in 14 WTA singles tournaments, recording an 18-12 win-loss card.

One of the Filipina's highlight win was an upset against world No. 6 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championship.

Jovic, on the other hand, has participated in 15 tournaments this year, posting a 21–10 win-loss record.

Her career highlights include capturing her maiden WTA singles title at the 2025 Guadalajara Open Akron, finishing runner-up in Hobart earlier this year, and winning a WTA 125 championship in Ilkley in 2025.

Eala looks to end the string of round of 32 losses as she took an early exit at the Strasbourg Open against Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine and the Italian Open against Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

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