FROM upset maker to upset victim, Alex Eala now knows the bitter taste of losing to a lower-rated foe in Colombian Emiliana Arango, who stunned the fancied Filipina netter 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 late Sunday night in her French Open main draw debut at Court 6 of the famed Roland Garros clay courts in Paris, France.
Going into the match ranked an all-time high of No. 69 in the Women’s Tennis Association world rankings, Eala was overpowered by Arango, 16 rungs lower at No. 85, who took an hour and 50 minutes of the rain-delayed match to pull off the opening round upset.
The pretty Pinay southpaw is not totally out of the blue-ribbon competition. She he will team up with new doubles partner Renata Zarazua of Mexico when they face the tandem of Ukraine’s Marta Ostyuk and Romania’s Elena Gabriela Ruse in the first-round tomorrow.
Ostyuk showed Eala the exit via a 6-0, 6-1 win in the Filipina’s maiden appearance in the first round of the Italian Open earlier this month.
Against the unheralded Arango, Eala showed none of the precocious poise she displayed in her remarkable run in the Miami Open earlier in the year, highlighted by a 6-2, 7-5 win in the quarterfinals over world No. 2 and four-time French Open champ Iga Swiatek of Poland.
The Filipina seemed flustered by the moment, the swirling winds and the dominant play of the Colombian, who broke her thrice on the way to taking the first set in 39 minutes.
Eala put up a fight and was leading 3-2 in the second set before the match was halted for almost an hour by a sudden downpour.
Picking up where she left off, she won the next three games to take the second set 6-2 in 39 minutes as the tide seemed to be turning in her favor.
But Eala was broken in the first game and fell behind 0-2 in the third set before scrambling back to draw within 2-3 after battling through two deuces in holding her serve in the fifth game.
Her downfall came in the ninth game where she trailed 0-40, saving two match points before Arango finally sealed the game, set and match with a forehand shot to finally prevail.
