The top-seeded tandem of Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala and Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva breezed through to the finals of the 2021 French Open girls’ doubles tournament after they dominated the defending champions Eleonora Alvisi and Lisa Pigato of Italy, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals on Friday night in Paris, France.
So dominant was the 16-year old Filipina and the 18-year Russian that they completed the straight sets victory in under an hour—53 minutes. In fact, the vaunted tandem has yet to drop a single set in this competition. They will be taking on the eighth-seeded duo of Amarissa Kiara Toth of Hungary and Maria Bondarenko of Russia in the finals on Saturday.
With their eyes set on capturing another grand slam trophy, Eala and Selekhmeteva got off to a 2-0 lead but the Italian duo managed to tie it all up at 2-2. However, that proved to be their opponent’s last hurrah as the Filipina-Russian duo won the next four games to close out the first set, 6-2.
With momentum clearly on their side, Eala and Selekhmeteva kept on rolling in the second set and kept their opposing side from winning more than just one game as they wrapped up the second set, 6-1, in a mere 26 minutes.
Eala and Selekhmeteva have experience on their side as they each have a juniors grand slam title already. Eala won the 2019 Australian Open girls’ doubles crown with Indonesian Priska Madelyn Nugroho while Selekhmeteva captured the 2019 US Open girls’ doubles title with Latvian Kamilla Bartone. (JNP)