FILIPINA tennis ace Alex Eala bowed out of the W25 Madrid singles tourney after submitting to Andrea Lazaro Garcia in a thrilling three-setter, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, on Wednesday afternoon (Manila time).
Despite securing an easy first set, the 16-year-old junior exempt player struggled to maintain her momentum as the match dragged on.
Garcia, a WTA no. 272 who is 10 years older than Alex, rallied from a set down to force a decider. Eala managed to tie the third set at 4-4, before Garcia pulled away through a double fault from Eala and a break point.
Eala recorded a total of 11 double faults in the match that lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes.
The battle, however, is still not over for the juniors world no. 3 as she continues her run in the doubles play with Andorran partner Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.
They will grace the quarterfinals later tonight, facing Ashley Lahey of USA and Olivia Tjandramulia of Australia.
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