Alex Eala to face Colombia's Emiliana Arango in first round of French Open

MANILA, May 23 ------ Alex Eala will be facing Emiliana Arango of Colombia in her Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2025 French Open. The tournament revealed the matchups on its website, and the draw was livestreamed on its YouTube channel. 

Arango, 24, a right-handed tennis player, is currently ranked 88th who had a career-high as World No. 79. She also has won three singles titles on the ITF Circuit, poised to challenge the Filipina sensation. Eala, who turns 20 on May 23, made waves after her historic 2025 Miami Open run, where she defeated three Grand Slam winners in Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek – also the defending champion of the Paris tourney. 

In case the World No. 69 Pinay defeats Arango in the opening salvo, there's a possibility she would face Qinwen Zheng of China – a potential rematch of the 2023 Asian Games women's tennis singles semifinals, where Eala lost against the Chinese standout. Swiatek, who has dropped to fifth in the world, faces a difficult route to a fourth successive Roland Garros title after a year-long trophy drought. 

The Pole is in the same quarter as 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini, former champion Jelena Ostapenko and 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina. Swiatek plays Slovakian Rebecca Sramkova in the first round before a possible meeting with Britain's Emma Raducanu. 

The four-time French Open champion is also in the same half of the draw as top seed Aryna Sabalenka, who gets under way against Kamilla Rakhimova from Russia. Second-ranked Coco Gauff plays Australian Olivia Gadecki in round one and is one of four seeded Americans in the bottom quarter of the women's draw.  

Source: news.abs-cbn.com