Eala, Auger-Aliassime bow out of US Open mixed doubles after first-round loss
Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime exited the US Open mixed doubles in the first round following their straight-set loss to Elina Svitolina and Gaël Monfils late Tuesday, Aug. 25 (Philippine time).
In just 39 minutes, the husband-and-wife team dominated Eala and Auger-Aliassime with a 4–1, 4–1 win at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Queens, New York.
Per the US Open, the first three rounds in mixed doubles use shorter sets to four games. The final will have regular sets to six.
Eala's World no. 4 partner held serve in the first game, setting a 1–0 lead. But it went downhill from there, with Monfils and Svitolina taking the first set with four straight wins.
The Filipino-Canadian tandem suffered from errors, including Auger-Aliassime's two double faults in the fifth game. In the second set, the teams switched holds until the fourth game, where errors committed by Eala and Auger-Aliassime set them back again.
In all, Eala and Auger-Aliassime committed eight unforced errors; their opponents had one. The Filipino-Canadian team won a total of 23 points, while the Ukrainian-French tandem won 34.
Svitolina and Monfils are set to play against the winning tandem in the round-of-16 run of Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, and Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten.
Eala will next be back on the hard court at the Stars of the Open exhibition game on Aug. 28 at 6 a.m. (Philippine time) against Iva Jovic.
The women's singles draw will be revealed on Aug. 27.
