By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala certainly needs more fine-tuning to become somebody in the big league.
The 16-year-old Eala threw everything she can but her game proved to be still lacking as she suffered a 6-2, 6-1 loss to veteran Madison Brengle in the opening round of the 2022 Miami Open Wednesday (early Thursday in Manila).
The American who is ranked No. 59 in the world needed just 72 minutes to dispatch Eala.
Still, Eala displayed flashes of brilliance as she broke her rival twice.
Brengle cruised to a 5-0 lead until Eala broke the American’s serve and then held her own to get closer at 5-2.
But Brengle came through with some pinpoint shots to finally take the opening set.
The American continued her dominance in the second frame with a quick 3-0 lead with Eala briefly breaking Brengle’s serve for 3-1.
Brengle was quick to recover and controlled the next games to seal the deal.
It was Eala’s first time to make it to the main draw of the prestigious WTA1000 tournament.
Last year, the top Filipino junior player was given a wildcard berth in the qualifiers, but lost her first match to Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia.
