FILIPINA tennis ace Alex Eala and Andorran partner Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva settled for a quarterfinal finish in the W25 Madrid doubles main draw on Wednesday night.
Surrounded by WTA veterans, the junior exempt players didn’t go down without a fight.
Eala and Kasintseva, 15, bowed down to USA’s Ashely Lahey and Australian Olivia Tjandramulia, 5-7, 6-4, 6-10 in a three-set thriller that lasted for an hour and 40 minutes.
In the first set, the Filipina and Andorran were quick to power through an easy 3-0, but Lahey, 24, and Tjandramulia, 21, managed to mount a rally to go 4-3.
The younger pair then tied it at 4-4, then 5-5, before their opponents won a break point, and took the set on the back of Eala and Kasintseva’s service errors.
Lahey and Tjandramulia went for a quick 2-0 advantage in the second set, but the Filipino-Andorran duo won a break point to tie at 3-3, and eventually took the match at 6-4 to force a decider.
In the count to 10 deuce set, the teens again led early at 3-0 until the older pair managed to steal the lead at 5-4. Eala and Kasitnseva answered back to tie at 5-5, before their foes won four straight points to extend the lead to 9-5.
The young duo managed to pull off a break point in an attemp to kickstart a rally, but the more experienced pair had a ready answer, winning their match point at 10-6.
Eala and Kasintseva made a total of seven double faults in the match.
The 16-year-old also ended her singles stint earlier in the day after bowing down to Andrea Lazaro Garcia in a three-setter, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, on Wednesday afternoon.
And the search continues for her second ITF pro feat. The juniors world no. 3 won her maiden title last February in the first leg of the W15 Manacor.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
