By NIKOLE JAVIER
Fatigue finally took its toll on Alex Eala as the country’s sports princess suffered a 6-3, 4-6, 1-6 defeat to a familiar foe in Destanee Aiava of Australia in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) W25 Aldershot GB Pro Series on Sunday night, Aug. 20 (Manila time) in Great Britain.
After two weeks of tireless display of brilliant tennis that saw her win a fourth ITF title in the W25 Roehampton last week, the third-seeded Filipina tennis star couldn’t hang tough this time around against the sixth-seeded Aiava in their second encounter in two weeks.
Eala had a promising start after jumping to a commanding 3-0 lead which she sustained at 5-2 before eventually taking the opening set.
In the second set, however, Aiava found her tempo and responded with a 3-0 lead of her own before hiking her lead to 5-1.
The 18-year-old Eala then broke back and narrowed the gap at 4-5, even saving two set points that raised the specter of another great comeback win just like what she pulled in the semis.
But the opposite happened.
Eala dropped her serve in the 10th game and that was it for her.
The 23-year-old Aussie, who claimed the Aldershot doubles crown a day prior with British partner Sarah Beth Grey, continued to baffle the Filipina bet with an array of shots – some were deceiving – that left Eala in utter frustration.
Still, Eala, 18, was happy with her showing although her streak of 9th straight win finally came to an end. She highlighted her showing with an incredible 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 come-from-behind win over British Katy Dunne in the semis.
The win gave Aiava a 2-1 edge over Eala in their personal duel, having beaten the Filipina ace last June.
Eala beat the Australian in their second encounter in the Round of 16 of the Roehampton singles last week and even teamed up for the doubles event, where they fell in the quarterfinals.
