By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala crashed out early in the main draw round of the W75 Trvana International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament after yielding to her seeded rival on Wednesday, March 6, in Slovakia.
The 18-year-old Eala, who had to go through two qualifying matches to book a spot in the 32-player main draw, fell short in the crunch against seventh seed Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), in this $75,000 event.
Eala struggled with her serves by committing six double faults while dropping it five times against a hard-hitting Martincova.
A victory for the top Filipina netter could have arranged her a second-round meeting with Switzerland’s Celine Naef, who routed Russian qualifier Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 6-1.
“Tough loss (today), but leaving Slovakia very pleased with my level this week,” Eala wrote on social media shortly after her match.
The Filipina hopes to improve her current career-high Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of No. 176 at the end of the week.
