Alex Eala came ready to swing freely and fight for every point. But against a defensive master with a knack for finding the right angles, she could not string together enough momentum to turn the match in her favor.
The 20-year-old had no answers to the all-around brilliance of Elise Mertens, falling in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round of the WTA Mutua Madrid Open on Friday at Park Manzanares in Spain.
Aside from being an outstanding singles player — once ranked as high as world No. 12 — Mertens is also the current world No. 1 in doubles.
Just this January, she and partner Zhang Shuai captured the Australian Open title, marking her sixth Grand Slam doubles crown.
Eala had a golden opportunity to set the tone early, racing to a 40-love lead in the opening game.
But Mertens stayed calm and composed, erasing the deficit to steal the game.
The Filipina held serve in the third game to get on the board at 2-1 and kept things close until the fifth at 3-2.
From there, however, Mertens tightened her grip, dictating rallies with a mix of power and deft drop shots that left Eala scrambling, often unsuccessfully. The Belgian cruised through the opening set in 32 minutes, 6-2.
However, the scoreline did not fully reflect how tightly contested the second set was.
The first four games all went to deuce, but Mertens consistently seized the crucial points to build a commanding 4-0 lead. Eala finally broke through in the fifth game, but it only delayed the inevitable. Mertens closed out the match in the seventh game to seal the victory.
Eala now shifts her focus to doubles, where she is paired with Zeynep Sonmez.
The duo returns to action on Sunday against second seeds Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova in the second round.
