UPDATED) Filipina tennis star Alex Eala has bowed out of the 2025 Nottingham Open after a straight sets loss to Polish opponent Magda Linette on Tuesday (Manila time).
Linette, the tournament’s sixth seed, turned back Eala 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round.
It marked the end of the road for Eala in the grass court tournament. She needed to beat two opponents in Varvara Gracheva and Anca Todoni in the qualifiers to take her place in the main draw.
Eala appeared headed for an early lead after surging to a 3-0 advantage in the opener, but Linette showed her quality and made some quick adjustments to string together five straight games.
In the second set, Eala continued to rely on her groundstrokes and pounced on short balls to take a 2-1 lead.
But Linette held her serve to knot the count at 2-all and broke Eala in the next game to take the lead for good. Eala came close to winning the next game, but Linette saved a breakpoint and eventually took a 5-2 advantage.
The Filipina mounted a late fightback, narrowing the gap to 3-5 and saving four match points.
Linette stood firm, however, closing out the match after an hour and 39 minutes. — with a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News
