A BAGEL was served, but American Alycia Parks was quick to bite back as she ended Alex Eala's Australian Open women's singles campaign via come-from-behind 6-0, 3-6, 2-6 victory on Monday afternoon at Melbourne Park.
After pulling off a perfect opening set to the joy of a horde of Filipino fans packed into the Court 6 stands, Eala lost momentum as Parks, at world No. 100 ranked 51 places below the Filipina, turned the tables behind her powerful serve.
READ Emotional roller-coaster for fans as Eala's fiery start fizzles out
The loss came as a dampener for the 20-year old Eala, who went to the year's first Grand Slam tournament with heightened expectations after a run to the semifinals at her warm-up event, the ASB Classic, in Auckland.
Shortlived as it may be, the campaign means the trailblazing Filipina has now played in the main draw of all four Grand Slam tournaments, with her first-round victory at the US Open still standing as her career-best in majors.
Eala’s singles campaign may have ended, but her Australian Open continues in doubles as she partners with Ingrid Martins in the first Grand Slam of the year.
The pair will face Magda Linette and Shuko Aoyama on Tuesday.
Parks, who owns a career-high singles ranking of No. 40 and has one singles title and two doubles trophies to her name, advanced to the second round against the winner of the match between Karolína Muchová and Jaqueline Cristian.
Down 0-3 in the second set, Eala battled back to level the set at 3-3, but Parks regained control to force a decider, where the American started strong and dictated play.
Eala stayed within striking distance at 2-3 in the third set before Parks sealed the win to the disappointment of the pro-Eala crowd in Victoria, wrapping up the match in one hour and 56 minutes.
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