Filipina tennis star Alex Eala and her Canadian partner Felix Auger-Aliassime bowed out of the US Open mixed doubles in the first round following their straight-sets loss to Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils.
The husband-and-wife team of Monfils and Svitolina needed only 39 minutes to wrap up a 4-1, 4-1 win at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York.
The first three rounds of the mixed doubles at the US Open use shorter sets of four games before reverting to the usual six games in the final.
Eala and Auger-Aliassime committed eight unforced errors, compared with one by their opponents. The Filipino-Canadian team won 23 points, while the Ukrainian-French tandem won 34.
Svitolina and Monfils will now face Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten who overcame Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic 1-4, 4-2, 10-2.
Eala will now turn her attention to the women's singles. The draw will take place on Thursday.
The 21-year-old enters the final Grand Slam of the year at No 18 in the WTA rankings, making her the highest-ranked Southeast Asian woman in history.
