Eala-Zarazua tandem eyes second round stint

Alex Eala and Renata Zarazua of Mexico are set to face Olga Danilović of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova of Russia in the second round of the French Open women’s doubles at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris on Friday.

Eala, 20, and Zarazua hope to pull off another win after clipping Emily Appleton of Great Britain and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers of Spain, 7-5, 6-4, last Wednesday.

The win was the first for Rafael Nadal Academy graduate in the main draw match since becoming a professional tennis player in 2020.

Still, Danilović and Potapova are expected to be tough foes for the Filipino-Mexican tandem.

Danilović and Potapova carved out a 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, victory against seventh seed Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk of the United States in their first round encounter.

Meanwhile, Eala’s ranking in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) dropped to No. 73 after her quick exit in the French Open women’s singles last week.

Eala lost to Emiliana Arango of Colombia, 0-6, 6-2, 3-6, in the first round last Sunday.

The Filipino ace’s highest rank in the WTA was at No. 69 following a head-turning showing in the Miami Open where she made it as far as the semifinal round.

That earned her a whopping $332,160 (P19 million) paycheck.