Alex Eala’s impressive French Open Juniors campaign ended Friday night after yielding to local bet Elsa Jacquemot, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinal.
The second-seeded Eala struggled by dropping her serve six times against the hard-hitting French foe in the match that lasted 64 minutes.
Jacquemot, seeded third who was also on her first French Open semis appearance like Eala, also banked on her winners to arrange a championship duel with Russsia’s Alina Charaeva.
The unseeded Charaeva, who stunned top seed and ITF juniors No. 1 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva in the second round, pulled off another shocking victory over fourth pick compatriot Polina Kudermetova, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5, for a spot in the final.
It was a tough road to the semis for Eala as she had to go through the deciding set three times out of her previous four matches.
Prior to her semis defeat, Eala defeated Hungary’s Natalia Szabanin, 6-4, 6-1; Germany’s Mara Guth, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4; Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1; and Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Despite the defeat, Eala, a Globe ambassador, is expected to improve her International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior ranking of No. 4 at the end of the tournament.
Making into the semis was also an achievement, as she also became the first Filipina to do so, matching Felix Barrientos’ feat in the 1985 Wimbledon Juniors.