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MANILA, Philippines – Two matches on the same day proved to be too much for Alex Eala.
Playing in the quarterfinals of the ITF W25 Monastir just two hours after winning the resumption of her second-round match, the Filipina tennis ace lost steam and dropped a close three-setter to well-rested qualifier Jiaqi Wang of China, 6-0, 4-6, 3-6, at Court 2 of the Hotel Skanes Family Monastir in Tunisia on Friday, May 26.
Eala’s second round match on Thursday was suspended due to rain with her ahead 5-1 against Nadine Keller of Switzerland. Wang, meanwhile, completed an upset on the same day over sixth seed Viktoria Morvayova of Slovakia.
The top-seeded Eala went on to defeat Keller in straight sets on Friday, 6-1, 6-4, to set up a quarterfinal encounter with Wang.
Eala sustained her form and blanked Wang, 6-0, in the opening set. But the match took a different turn in the second set with Eala slowly showing signs of fatigue and Wang beginning to assert herself by taking a 3-0 lead.
The Filipina tennis star fought back by taking the next two games to inch closer at 3-2. She had a number of opportunities to tie the count in the sixth and eighth games with multiple break points that she failed convert. After Eala held serve to cut the deficit to 5-4, Wang made sure to extend the match to a decider by closing out the set in the 10th game.
It was all Wang in the third set. The Chinese qualifier jumped to another 3-0 advantage before Eala finally got on the scoreboard. Wang then won the next two games to go up 5-1. Eala rallied to 5-3 and had another chance to extend the match after going up 40-15 in the ninth game.
Sensing danger, Wang stepped up her game and pocketed the next four points to seal spot in Saturday’s semifinals.
It was the best result for Eala so far in the 2023 season where she has been unable to get past the opening rounds of most of the tournaments she has joined.
She flies back to her home base in Spain, where she will get a chance to gain more ranking points when she joins the I Open Internacional Femenino, another ITF W25 event which is scheduled to begin on May 29 in Yecla. – Rappler.com
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