By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
It was another disappointing week for Alex Eala in her Europe campaign.
Eala won a hotly-contested first set but faltered in the end, leading to her 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 defeat to Japanese Ena Shibahara in the second qualifying round of the Rothesay Open Nottingham Tennis Tournament in Great Britain on Sunday, June 9.
Despite winning the opening set, 19-year-old Eala simply had no answer to the power of the Japanese that she misfired in succession in utter frustration in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 250 event.
A victory for Eala could have earned her a main draw berth in the event that lured some of the finest players, including three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, 2024 Australian Open quarterfinalist Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, and world No. 30 Katie Boulter of Great Britain, to name a few.
Eala’s botched bids the past weeks pulled her down from No. 157 to No. 169 in this week’s WTA singles rankings.
Prior to her first tournament in the grass season, she competed in the French Open qualifying where she also came up a win short of booking a main draw ticket. She also finished in the first round of Makarska Open, a WTA125 tournament, in Croatia last week.
