By MARK REY MONTEJO
Alex Eala couldn’t sustain her early surge and succumbed to Indonesian Janice Tjen, 4-6, 1-6, in their all-Southeast Asian quarterfinal match at the WTA 250 São Paulo Open early Saturday, Sept. 13 (Philippine time).
Riding the crest of seven-match win streak, the 20-year-old Eala looked poised for another victory after storming to a 3-0 lead in the opening set.
But Tjen suddenly sprung back to life and fought with all her might to level the count that slowly flipped the momentum to her favor.
Though Eala was able to hold serve, it proved to be her last gallant show as the Indonesian came through with a series of booming shots that caught the Filipina ace off-guard.
Tjen’s onslaught didn’t end there as the world No. 130 Indonesian sprayed more screaming shots that all but took the fight out of Eala.
With her valiant win, Tjen booked a semifinal date with either second seed Argentinian Solana Sierra or sixth seed British Francesca Jones.
Eala’s loss was a bitter pill to swallow for Filipino fans – most were looking forward for her victory especially after coming off victorious at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico over the weekend.
But it was the Indonesian who played like a true champion and not country’s top player and current world No. 55.
Eala, however, offered no excuses for her meltdown as performance like that happened even to great champions.
Still, Eala was comforted by a flood of support from her fans all over world through sweet messages.
Prior to her exit, Eala exhibited pure dominance in her last two games where she toppled France’s Yasmine Mansouri (6-0, 6-2) and Argentina’s Julia Riera (6-1, 6-4) in the Rounds of 32 and 16, respectively.
