MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala fell short of her first W60 pro title after a 4-6, 5-7 loss to home bet Marina Bassols Ribera in the finals of the Open ITF Arcadis Brezo Osuna in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday, June 19.

Eala squandered a 5-0 lead in the second set as Bassols Ribera authored an improbable comeback to rule the $60,000 tournament.

Five years older, Bassols Ribera won seven straight games to stun the 17-year-old Filipina, who saw her streak of wins over seeded opponents come to a screeching halt.

The unseeded Eala bested No. 11 Daniela Seguel of Chile, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 7 Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers of Spain, 0-6, 6-2, 7-5, to reach the last eight, where she upset third seed Jaimee Fourlis of Australia, 6-1, 6-4, to advance.

She then clobbered Canadian 16th seed Katherine Sebov in a 6-2, 6-1 win to qualify for the finals with a chance of bagging her third pro title following victories in the W15 Manacor in Spain and W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand.

But the 14th seed Bassols Ribera – whose career-high WTA ranking is No. 272 – proved too strong for Eala.

A win away from forcing a deciding set, Eala lost serve in the 11th game as Bassols Ribera completed the come-from-behind victory. – Rappler.com