The canvas will remain incomplete for the world no. 4 Alex Eala.
The second-seeded Filipina suffered an upset from France’s own Elsa Jacquemot in straight sets, 3-6, 2-6, to exit the 2020 French Open girls singles event, Friday night (Manila time) at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
In the pivotal opening round, Jacquemot took the first serve break after the first four games went on serve, taking the lead at 3-2.
Eala then struggled to return serves from the hometown bet. She had to deal with winners from the latter, who ultimately bagged the opening set with yet another break of serve.
The second frame started well for the Filipina, though. She converted her second breakpoint to open the set with the lead.
Nonetheless, with Jacquemot firing on all cylinders using her service games and Eala’s shaky ones, the Filipina had to settle for just another break the rest of the way.
Despite the loss, Eala will steadily rise in the rankings armed with the 490 points she bagged from the tournament.