Alex Eala’s first-ever pro doubles title will have to wait some other time.
The 15-year-old Filipina and Russian partner Oksana Selemekhteva’s Cinderella run finished with a runner-up trophy after absorbing a two-set defeat from Lithuania’s Justina Mikulskyte and Romania’s Oana Georgeta Simion, 3-6, 5-7, in the finals of the W25 Platja D’Aro tournament in Catalonia, Spain, Saturday evening (Manila time).
The teenaged duo could not sustain their form just a few hours ago in the semifinals that saw them whitewash the Dutchwomen Suzan Lamens and Isabelle Haverlag. This time it was their turn to succumb to the game play of Mikulskyte and Simion in that opening set.
Eala and Selekhmeteva dug a deep hole after going down 1-5 at the first frame, taking that solitary won game off a service break at the very first game of the match.
The Filipino-Russian tandem took another break of serve and consolidated it with a service hold, but the all-European foe took it in their own hands as the latter took the set advantage.
The following set was a pretty tight one as it went on serve after ten games, before the more experienced duo of Mikulskyte and Simion took advantage of their younger opponent’s match-long struggles on the service line to take the 6-5 lead.
Eala and Selekhmeteva almost sent the second set into a tiebreak, but the Lithuanian-Romanian duo carved three consecutive points to take the game, the set, and the match for the title and the $1,437.00 (P 68,861.04) winner’s pot.
On their part, Eala and Selekhmeteva will share the $719.00 (P 34,454.48) runner-up prize.
