By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala’s show at the BNP Paribas Open came to sad end on Wednesday, March 11 (Philippine time) after losing to world No. 14 Linda Noskova, 2-6, 0-6, in the Round of 16 at the Stadium 1 in Indian Wells, United States.
The 31st-seeded Eala fought hard but struggled to keep pace with the powerful serves of her more experienced opponent, ultimately bowing out of contention in the prestigious WTA1000 event.
Her debut performance in the prestigious event was still a good one – worth a page in her already storied career.
Apart from the experience she gained at playing on a bigger stage, Eala’s three-game performance before wildly-cheering Filipino supporters earned for herself $105,720 (around P6.2 million) prize.
After a first-round bye, Eala displayed grit and brilliant shotmaking to down Dayana Yastremska, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, before getting back at Dubai tormentor in fourth seed Coco Gauff, 6-2, 2-0 (ret).
Noskova imposed her will early by breaking Eala’s serve in the opening game, before pulling away to a 3-1 lead.
Eala held her serve in the fifth game to trim the deficit to 2-3, but Noskova was quick to regroup, winning the next three games including a break on the Filipina’s serve in the seventh game.
The 2024 Australian Open quarterfinalist, wasted no time asserting her dominance over Eala and took full control of the second set.
Despite the defeat, Eala is still expected to improve on her current world No. 32 ranking by the end of the week.
As of press time, Eala has climbed to a career-high No. 28 in the live rankings, although the official rankings are finalized every Monday once tournaments on the tour calendar are completed.
A victory for the Filipina could have arranged her a quarterfinal berth with a familiar opponent in Talia Gibson, who earlier pulled off 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 upset win over seventh seed Jasmine Paolini.
She and Iva Jovic also competed in the doubles, but lost in the opening round to veterans Jelena Ostapenko and Hailey Baptiste, 6-2, 6-2.
