Alex Eala’s streak ends at eight.
The 15-year-old first-leg champion could not sustain her form, exiting the second leg of the W15 Manacor tournament of the 2021 ITF Women’s World Circuit with a 0-6, 3-6 defeat against Switzerland’s Ylena In-Albon, Friday evening (Philippine time).
The Swiss, who ranks at 432nd in the WTA world rankings, asserted her experience over the young Filipina to go up 3-0 in the second set.
Eala would not go down without a fight, though. She finally got that break of serve and her first game of the match after a well-placed winner to close the deficit at 1-3.
The Filipina then got her first service game win and another service break to level the set at 3. But In-Abon closed out the match on her terms with three consecutive games.
“Thank you to everyone for your amazing support this past week and a half,” expressed Eala.
Eala could not find her usual form at the onset and had to scour for points. Her shots left her, especially in closing out the games as the more veteran In-Albon took the sweep for the opening set win.
The Filipina earlier took down two experienced veterans in Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund in a two-hour battle; and Spain’s Alba Carillo Marin in straight sets to book her place in the quarterfinals.
This is Eala’s second straight pro tournament this year after starting in the circuit just last year.
