Alex Eala at W25 Palma del Rio. –ALEX EALA FACEBOOK
MANILA, Philippines— It was a tough day for Alex Eala as she bowed out of contention both in singles and doubles competitions of the W25 Palma del Rio.
The 17-year-old Filipino tennis star fell to No.2 seed Jessika Ponchet of France, 6-2, 6-1, in the round of 16 of the women’s single on Friday (Manila time).
Eala and Spanish partner Marina Bassols Ribera yielded to Russia’s Valeria Savinykh and Hungary’s Fanni Stollar, 6-2, 6-0, in the doubles semifinals.
Stollar and Savinykh, the No.1 seed, blanked the Filipino-Spanish pair in the second set to book their ticket to the finals.
Eala made her first doubles semis appearance after three straight quarterfinals exit in W25 and W60 Madrid weeks ago and W25 Macon last February.
She and Bassols Ribera, the fourth seed, had a dominant start with a 6-0, 6-0 beating of hometown bets Adriana Cortes and Patricia Rodriguez Carretero and took down Spain’s Marta Gonzalez Encinas and United States’ Ashley Lahey, 6-1, 6-3, before bowing out in the semis.
The Rafael Nadal Academy scholar also had an impressive start in the singles with a 6-2, 6-0 conquest over Chilean Jimar Geraldine Gerald Gonzalez only to bid farewell in the round of 16.