Filipina tennis star Alexandra Eala bowed out of the French Open singles competition after falling to American Iva Jovic, 6-4, 6-2, in the first round at Roland Garros.
The defeat ended Eala’s bid for a breakthrough victory in the main draw of the year’s second Grand Slam tournament.
Despite the loss, the 20-year-old Filipina earned a spot in the main draw and will take home prize money of 87,000 euros.
Jovic, ranked No. 17 in the world, advanced to the second round, where she will face fellow American Emma Navarro.
The opening set was closely contested after Jovic raced to a 5-1 lead. Eala mounted a late comeback, taking advantage of several service errors by her opponent and winning three straight games to narrow the gap to 5-4.
Jovic regained control in the next game, breaking Eala’s serve to seal the set.
Eala started strongly in the second set, breaking serve to move ahead 1-0.
Jovic quickly responded with a break of her own before taking command of the match, winning five of the next six games to complete the straight-set victory.
The loss continues a difficult run on clay for Eala. After showing promise at the Italian Open, she exited the Strasbourg Open last week with a three-set defeat to Ukrainian qualifier Oleksandra Oliynykova.
