Two days ago, Alex Eala got a surprise news when she given a wildcard berth for the coming WTA Miami Open.
Too bad that news was not enough to inspire her as she suffered a shocking 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 loss to unseeded Valentina Ryser of Switzerland on Friday, March 7 (Manila time), in the second round of the ITF 2nd Empire Women’s Indoor 2025 in Trnava, Slovakia.
Though Eala was seeded third, it was the Swiss who played like the favorite, coming through with variety of wicked shots that left the Filipina frustrated time and time again.
Apart from being one of the seeded players in the event, Eala, now ranked No. 140 in the world, has beaten the qualifier two years ago in Spain.
For a while, the 19-year-old Eala appeared headed to another dominant win when she took the opening set, but the Swiss gathered steam in the second set that saw her produce some unbelievable shots to surge ahead, 4-1.
Eala never recovered from Ryser’s onslaught as she continued to misfire and fall behind 1-5.
Eala was also eliminated in the second round of the ITF 1st Empire Women’s Indoor 2025 the previous week.
Eala needs to recalibrate if she is to go deep in the Miami Open slated March 15-30. Last year, Eala lost in the second qualifying round to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
