Alex Eala’s highly-anticipated Grand Slam debut was spoiled by Emilia Arango, who outlasted the Filipina 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 in a hard-fought opening-round encounter at the French Open.

The match served as a rematch of last year’s Miami Open qualifiers, where Arango also triumphed.

Despite Eala’s steady rise in the rankings, now world No. 69, the 88th-ranked Colombian once again proved a challenging obstacle, using her court craft and consistency to grind out another victory.

Arango came out firing in the opening set, steamrolling Eala without dropping a game. The Colombian broke serve three times and held her own with ease, applying relentless pressure through deep returns and a steady baseline game.

Eala struggled to find rhythm, tallying 17 unforced errors against Arango’s mere four.

The tide shifted in the second set.

Eala steadied her groundstrokes and improved her first-serve percentage, managing to go toe-to-toe with Arango in extended rallies.

The 20-year-old Filipina edged ahead 3-2 before a rain delay temporarily halted play. When action resumed, Eala rode the momentum, winning three straight games — including two key breaks — to take the set 6-2 and force a decider.

But Arango quickly reasserted control in the final set, breaking Eala’s serve in the opening game.

Both players held serve through the next six games, but Eala was unable to make inroads on return. Serving to stay in the match at 5-3 down, Eala faltered under pressure, allowing Arango to earn the decisive break and seal the win.

The loss denied Eala a potential high-profile second-round matchup against No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China — her former conqueror at the 2023 Asian Games and the reigning Olympic champion.

For Eala, the promising debut ends in disappointment, but the experience offers valuable lessons as she continues her push toward breaking through on the WTA Tour.

In getting this far, she had already become the first player from the Philippines to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam in the Open era.