Alex Eala fell prey to the veteran smarts and precision of 3rd seed Valeria Savinykh of Russia as the Filipina teen lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the XXVII Open Generali Ciudad de Palma del Rio at the Asociacion de Tenistas Palmenos Polideportivo in Spain on Saturday morning (Manila time).
The 18-year-old Eala was hoping to ride the momentum of her first two victories earlier in the tournament, where she triumphed in straight sets. In the Round of 32, Eala trumped 16-year-old Spaniard Lorena Solar Donoso, 6-3, 6-2, and then followed it up with a second-round win over Australia’s Talia Gibson.
Eala, however, found the 32-year-old Savinykh to be on a different level than her previous opponents.
The 6th-seeded Eala actually jumped the gun on her Russian foe in the opener, racing to a 4-1 lead and needing just two more games to take a one-set advantage.
But Savinykh, formerly ranked 99th in the world, who reached the third round of the 2013 Australian Open, displayed composure gained from years of experience. The Russian stunned Eala by taking the next five games to clinch the first set at 6-4.
The Russian sustained her blitz in the second set by racing to a 3-1 lead. The closest Eala got was when she held serve in the fifth game. It was all Savinykh from that point on as the current world number 243 won the next three games to eliminate Eala from the $40,000 ITF event.
Eala will take a one-week break before resuming her campaign in the pro circuit. The 2022 US Open girls’ singles champion is slated to see action next in the Seixal Ladies Open, an ITF W25 competition that will be held beginning July 11 in Corrois-Seixal, Portugal.
