There’ll be no deep run for Alex Eala and Iva Jovic in the BNP Paribas Open. This comes after the two youngsters lost to the veteran duo of Jelena Ostapenko and Hailey Baptiste, 6-2, 6-2, in Round 1 of women’s doubles action at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday (Manila time) in Southern California.
The young pair got behind the eight ball rather quickly, falling behind 0-4 after a flat start. The pair of Baptiste and Ostapenko then won two of the next four games to take the first frame.
The more experienced pair of Baptiste and Ostapenko continued their dominant performance into the second set, outplaying Eala and Jovic in every way to cruise to the victory in just 61 minutes.
Eala and Jovic Couldn’t Recapture Early-Season Form
Eala, 20, and Jovic, 18, first paired up in January at the ASB Classic, where they made it to the semis but lost to the Chinese duo of Zhaoxuan Yang and Yifan Xu. In New Zealand, Eala and Jovic defeated the veteran duo of Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina in the Round of 16 before receiving a walkover to advance to the semis.
While Eala and Jovic are now out of doubles competition, the Filipina will continue playing in California after making it to the Round of 32 with a win over Dayana Yastremska on Saturday. The 20-year-old Quezon City native will take on Coco Gauff on Monday.
Jovic’s BNP Paribas Open campaign, on the other hand, is now over. The 18-year-old lost to Camila Osorio of Colombia, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, in the Round of 64. Osorio, of course, is familiar to Filipino tennis fans as she won the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open last month.
