Alex Eala staged a late comeback in Set 2, but ultimately fell short to surrender a 6-4, 6-3 loss against Magda Linette of Poland in the Round of 32 of Nottingham Open on Tuesday night (Manila time) in Great Britain.
The 20-year-old Filipina tennis star thus bowed out of the grass tournament after gutting out a pair of victories in the qualifiers.
Eala dropped the opening frame then found herself in a 5-3 hole in Set 2 after the sixth-seeded Linette erased an early deficit in Game 8 to cruise to the match point cushion over the Philippine bet.
The world no. 77 in women’s tennis then staged a rally in Game 9, winning back-to-back points to create a 30-0 cushion. Linette, though, retaliated and even took a 40-30 lead before Eala forced a deuce four times in an extended game.
Linette then powered through to hack out the victory to boot out the Filipina.
