By NIKOLE JAVIER
Alex Eala suffered a heartbreaking quarterfinal defeat in the 2024 W50 Pune women’s singles tournament in India on Thursday, Jan. 26.
The Filipina tennis ace went blank in the second set against her Latvian partner turned foe Darja Semenistaja of Hungary, 6-7 (6-8), 0-6, as her campaign for a fifth pro title came to a brief end.
While the Filipina-Latvian duo progressed to the semifinal round of the doubles event which is set to take place at 5:30 p.m. on the same day, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No. 142 Semenistaja was too much for Eala in their singes match.
The 18-year-old Eala’s first quarterfinal appearance of the year came two weeks since her qualifying defeat in the 2024 Australian Open.
Trailing 4-2 in the opening set, Eala rallied to knot the game at 6-all where she eventually ran out of steam.
Eala was never the same after that as fatigue slowed her down.
