PHILIPPINES Alexandra “Alex” Eala bowed out of the Rancho Santa Fe Open in California after a quarterfinal loss to Mexico’s Marcela Zacarias, 2-6, 5-7, on Friday (Saturday Manila time).
Zacarias, 28, and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 229, completed a two-set win in two hours and 16 minutes.
Eala won the US Open Juniors girls’ singles title last month and WTA World No. 281.
The Rancho Santa Fe Open was the first $80,000 event that Eala joined on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s World Tennis Tour.
Her W80 debut kicked off with qualifying victories against Deniza Marcinkevica of Latvia, 6-1, 6-3, and Alana Smith of the United States, 6-0, 6-0.
From being the No. 2 seed in qualifying, Eala asserted herself in the main draw with wins over American wildcard Dalayna Hewitt in the first round, 6-1, 2-6, 6-0, and Canadian Katherine Sebov in the second round, 7-6(6), 6-2.
Save for her successful US Open Juniors stint in September, the Rafa Nadal Academy scholar has been competing on the women’s circuit since January.
