FILE–Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala fails to advance to the Wimbledon main draw. –VENETO OPEN via ALEX EALA FACEBOOK
MANILA, Philippines—Alex Eala missed out on the chance to advance to the Wimbledon main draw after falling to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun, 7-6(3), 7-5, in the last round of the qualifiers late Thursday.
The Filipino tennis ace just needed one win to get to the main draw, which would’ve made her the first Filipino to make a pro Grand Slam appearance.
Eala outlasted higher-ranked Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia and French bet Jessika Ponchet to advance to against Sun.
READ: Alex Eala closes in on Wimbledon main draw after big win
Sun, the world’s no. 123, proved to be too much for the 19-year-old Eala and it showed late in the first set.
Eala, an Asian Games bronze medalist, took an early commanding 5-2 lead over Sun to move just one win away from winning the opening set.
However, Sun came storming back and took a 6-5 lead en route to the first set win.
READ: Alex Eala eyes another fruitful year starting with Australian Open
The same story happened in the following set, with Eala winning two straight games to open the second before Sun retalited to keep the Filipino bet at bay.
It was not the first time that Eala fell short in the last round of the Grand Slam qualifiers and failed to make it to the main tournament.
Eala also fell short of making it to the French Open main draw last month after losing in the final round.