Alex Eala made her 2021 US Open exit in the girls doubles tournament on Friday, September 10 (Saturday, September 11, Philippine time) at the USTA Billie Jean King Center in New York.

Eala and Belgian partner Hanne Vandewinkel fell to the all-American pair of Reese Brantmeier and Elvina Kalieva, 7-5, 2-6, 0-1 (7), in the girls double semifinals.

After the Eala-Vandewinkel tandem took the opening set, the home bets gained momentum in the second and took the match to a tiebreak.

The Americans denied Eala and Vandewinkel of a comeback when they rallied from five-point deficit, 3-8, to close the gap to two with three straight games.

But an unforced error from the mixed nationality pair later surrendered the final berth to Brantmeier and Kalieva.

Eala and Vandewinkel played back-to-back matches due to rain delay during the tournament.

An hour before their semifinal battle, Eala and Vandewinkel won their quarterfinal match over Elizabeth Coleman and Madison Sieg, 6-1, 6-7(4), 1-0 (7).

The Filipina teen tennis sensation fell short of her bid of a third Grand Slam title after also exiting the girls singles in the quarterfinal on Thursday (Friday, Philippine time).

Eala’s last Grand Slam title was her 2021 French Open juniors doubles conquest with Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva.

The 16-year-old Filipina won her first Grand Slam title in the 2020 Australian Open juniors tournament where she paired up with Indonesian Priska Nugroho to capture the girls doubles title.

But she has yet to defend her title as Australian Open organizers canceled this year’s juniors tournament.

Eala already nailed many career milestones this year, including her first professional title last January and closing in on the top 500 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings. – Rappler.com