By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Grass surface appears not suitable to Alex Eala’s game as she was eliminated early — again — in Lexus Birmingham Open on Tuesday, June 3 (early Wednesday, Philippine time).
Seeded third in this Women’s Tennis Association (WTA125) event, the 20-year-old Eala fought back from a first-set hiccup but lost her steam in the critical third frame to succumb to Czech rival Linda Fruhvirtova, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
The defeat came after Eala and her Swiss partner Rebeka Masarova lost in the first round of the doubles the other night.
The hard-serving Fruhvirtova, who fired 10 aces throughout the three-hour match, waxed hot with 2-0 and 4-3 leads in the opening set but Eala retaliated, breaking the Czech’s serve to take the eighth game to tie it at 4-all.
They held each other’s serves in the next two games before Fruhvirtova took over and won the set.
The world No. 73 Eala raced to a 2-0 lead to grab the second-set momentum, and even held her ground against the resilient attempts of Fruhvirtova including in the tiebreak to bring the match into a decider.
But the Filipina couldn’t sustain that momentum in the third set as the Czech dictated the phase en route to the victory.
