Riera to make Grand Slam main draw debut as impressive 2024 continues
In the coming days Argentina’s Julia Riera will make her Grand Slam main draw debut at Roland Garros after defeating Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the final round of qualifying in Paris.
Riera will take her place among the game’s elite when Roland Garros – the second Grand Slam of the season – gets underway on Sunday after dispatching Eala 4-6 7-6(3) 6-4. She also overcame Serbia's Natalija Stevanovic and Harmony Tan of France in qualifying.
The 21-year-old, who occupies a career-high No. 93 in the WTA Rankings, has contested qualifying on three occasions previously but never managed to chalk up the necessary wins to reach the main draw. However, her stunning showing this time around is a breakthrough moment.
This is the latest step for Riera in an impressive 2024 season. Through her performances on the ITF World Tennis Tour, Riera broke the Top 100 for the first time in April after lifting silverware at W75 Chiasso in Switzerland.
In the days prior to the start of W75 Chiasso, she starred for her nation in Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge, winning all five of the matches she contested as Argentina secured promotion to the Play-offs. She was duly named a Heart Award winner.
More was to come. In early May, Riera bettered her title win at W75 Chiasso by conquering all before her at W100 Wiesbaden to claim the seventh ITF World Tennis Tour title of her career, all of which have come on clay.
Roland Garros would certainly seem the natural place to begin her Grand Slam story – and all after being ranked No. 252 as recently as April 2023.
Riera’s opponent Eala, meanwhile, was also bidding to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time having previously lost in qualifying. While she fell short again on this occasion, her time will surely come.
Like Riera, the tenacious Eala is also a product of the ITF player pathway having reached No. 2 in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings and collecting some lofty junior titles in the process.
As well as two Junior Grand Slam doubles titles, Eala also scooped the girls’ singles title at the 2022 US Open and won some prestigious J500 events – in Cape Town in 2019 and Milan in 2021.
The left-hander has proceeded to make her mark within the professional ranks and has picked up ITF World Tennis Tour titles in each of the previous three seasons, including two last year at W25 Yecla and W25 Roehampton.
Her ability has long since been recognised and she was a standout performer at the 2019 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals – the premier international team competition for competitors aged 14 and under.
Incidentally, Eala now trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor and towards the end of last year the ITF travelled to Mallorca and spent a day with her. The behind-the-scenes video can be viewed here.