Alexandra Eala will make her second career appearance at Roland Garros this week.
The Filipina will look to improve on her debut campaign from last year, in which she bowed out in the opening round.
Eala has recorded a fairly indifferent clay swing thus far, with early exits at each of the five events she has appeared at on the surface in 2026.
Alexandra Eala will finish 2026 ranked — in the world
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Clay is not the 21-year-old’s strongest surface, and she says there are parts of specialists Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek‘s game that she would love to implement into her own.
Alex Eala speaks ahead of her Roland Garros campaign
Asked in her pre-tournament press conference if she has watched film of Nadal and Swiatek, Eala replied: “Yes, definitely.
“There are so many things you can take away from both of those players. You have to pick and choose what you’re gonna take from them.
“You see me, and then you see Rafa, he’s just like a machine. I personally can’t be like that, and running here, running there, hit a winner like this.
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“But there are definitely certain things I’ve seen in both of their games that I can implement more in mine.”
Eala graduated from the Rafael Nadal academy in Manacor, Spain during 2023.
Alex Eala’s results at Grand Slams during her career so far
Eala made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open last season, where she was beaten in the first round by Emiliana Arango in three sets.
She then suffered another opening-round exit at the Wimbledon championships, this time falling to Barbora Krejcikova.
At the 2025 US Open, Eala became the first Filipina to win a main draw Grand Slam singles match in the Open Era.
But her run at Flushing Meadows ended in the second round with a straight-sets loss to Cristina Bucsa.
Eala’s campaign at the 2026 Australian Open also came to an end in round one, and now she’ll try to go deep at this season’s French Open.
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