Alex Eala vs. Iva Jovic 2026 French Open First Round Preview

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Alex Eala vs. Iva Jovic 2026 French Open First Round Preview image

By Joel Reyes

The year’s second Grand Slam tournament is finally here, and Filipina tennis star Alex Eala will have her work cut out for her immediately at the 2026 French Open. She was handed a tough draw on Thursday, with the Quezon City native set to face World No. 17 Iva Jovic in the first round at Roland Garros.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two best friends on the WTA Tour. Eala and Jovic previously competed together in doubles, though, reaching the semifinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland earlier this year, where they recorded an upset win over Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina.

Eala will be looking to secure her first-ever match win at Roland Garros against Jovic after she crashed out in the first round of last year’s French Open. She lost to Emiliana Arango in her first-ever Grand Slam main draw appearance, absorbing a 0-6, 6-2, 3-6 defeat.

A lot has changed since that first-round exit, though, with Eala producing some impressive performances on clay this season. She reached the third round of the Italian Open for the first time in her career, defeating Magdalena Frech and Xinyu Wang before giving World No. 2 Elena Rybakina a tough fight in a two-set loss.

Will Eala record a major upset against Jovic and advance to the second round of the French Open for the very first time? Roland Garros 2026 can’t come soon enough.

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