FILE–Alex Eala. ALEX EALA FACEBOOK
MANILA, Philippines—Alex Eala suffered an early exit after losing to tournament fifth seed Giulia Gatto-Monticone, 6-2, 6-1, in the third leg of the ITF W25 Manacor tournament Wednesday at Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain.
The 16-year-old prodigy was coming off a bad case of stomach flu that forced her to pull out of the second leg of the tournament.
Eala, the no.13 seed in the tournament, was on the defensive for much of the match and was staring a 5-1 deficit in the second set.
Gatto-Manticone eventually took the match after a forehand volley error from Eala.
It was a difficult stretch for Eala in Manacor as she failed to enter the main draw of the first leg and got sick in the second.
Eala also tested positive for COVID-19 during the holidays forcing her into inactivity at the end of 2021.