Alex Eala is a Grand Slam champion once again.

Dominant throughout the entire tournament, the Filipina teen tennis sensation and Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva cruised to the 2021 French Open juniors doubles title on Saturday, June 12, in Paris, France.

The top-seeded duo survived the No. 8 seed pair of Russian Maria Bondarenko and Hungarian Amarissa Kiara Toth, 6-0, 7-5, in the girls final.

This is 16-year-old Eala’s second Grand Slam title after her breakthrough win in the 2020 Australian Open girls doubles tournament with Indonesian partner Priska Nugroho.

As both Eala, who was seeded No. 2, and Selekhmeteva were booted out of the girls singles tournament, the champion pair showed how threatening they can be by dealing their foes a bagel in the opening set.

The European pair, though, found their footing at the start of the second set and went up 3-1.

Though Eala and Selekhmeteva knotted the score at 4-4, they had to break serve to go up 6-5 and held on to the lead to clinch the crown.

In the 2020 Roland Garros tournament, Eala became the first Filipino in 35 years since Felix Barrientos to nail a junior Grand Slam singles semifinal appearance. – Rappler.com