For the second straight leg, Alex Eala closed her stint in the quarterfinals.
The first-leg winner bowed out of the third and final leg of the 2021 ITF Women’s World Tour tournament with a 2-6, 3-6 loss to Oksana Semekhteva of Russia in Manacor, Spain, Friday evening in the Philippines.
Fatigue crept in as the Filipina survived a three-hour marathon less than 24 hours prior in her previous match. That, plus dealing with an opponent 331 spots ahead in WTA rankings in that span of time is quite a tall order.
Nonetheless, Eala showed up to prolong her stay in the tournament held in the very same place she honed her tennis skills – the Rafa Nadal Academy. She even managed to keep the second set at 3-all and on serve.
Semektheva, however, minimized her own lapses, just as she did in that opening-set victory. She then forced the younger Filipina to her own errors to eventually seal the win.
Eala looks to bounce back in the other tournaments lined up in the ITF World Tennis Tour calendar.
She will not be defending her Australian Open juniors doubles titles after the juniors’ side of the tournament was cancelled.
