Alex Eala has teamed up with world No. 9 Victoria Mboko of Canada for the women’s doubles event of the French Open in Paris from 24 May 24 to 7 June.
It will be the 20-year-old Eala’s second time partnering with a top-10 player in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, following the official announcement of the pairings on Thursday.
The Rafael Nadal Academy alumna previously joined hands with world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States at last year’s Italian Open, where they reached the quarterfinals before bowing to home bets Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
Eala and Mboko are also entered in the women’s singles main draw as they compete in the second Grand Slam event of the year.
Eala has been steadily improving on clay.
After early exits in the Linz Open in Austria and the Stuttgart Open in Germany last April, she advanced to the Round of 32 at the Italian Open, a WTA 1000 event, before losing to world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Eala said she sees clear progress in her clay-court game as she counts down to the hostilities at Roland Garros.
“I think I moved well today and I took my chances when I needed to. I’m very happy with this week because I do see the improvement on clay court, especially when you compare it to my experience here last year,” Eala said.
“I’m really happy with how I’ve been playing and the work I’ve been doing off-competition with my team.”
Eala will also compete at the Strasbourg Open in France starting 17 May but will begin her campaign in the qualifying as part of her preparation for the French Open.