Tennis: Alex Eala bows out of Italian Open with loss to Rybakina

MANILA, May 11 ------ Filipina tennis star Alex Eala exited the Italian Open after a gutsy effort against world No. 2 Elena Rybakina fell short at the BNP Paribas Arena in Rome.

Eala gave a good account of herself but Rybakina displayed her class in a 6-4, 6-3 triumph in their third round showdown. Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open champion, now marches on to the last 16 where she will play the winner of the match between Laura Siegemund and Karolína Plíšková.

Despite the loss it was another strong showing for the young Filipina, who was broken in the first game of the second set but broke back immediately, forcing four backhand errors from Rybakina to level at 1-1. The Filipina again fought back from 15-40 in another gritty service game at 2-2, but Rybakina’s powerful first serves and steady baseline game helped her regain control with a second break for 3-2. From there, the Kazakh star powered through the closing stages of the match, sealing the victory.

Eala had shown her grit in the opening frame after facing a 3-5 deficit, battling through two deuces to extend the set. But Rybakina was relentless, taking care of business in the tenth game to snatch the lead and the momentum. Eala looked poised to strike back in the second set, breaking Rybakina to love in the second game and then holding for a 2-1 advantage. The world No. 2 was quick to turn things around, however, and Eala ran out of steam in the closing stretch.

The Filipina had advanced to the third round with wins over Magdalena Fręch of Poland and Wang Xinyu of China. She now shifts her focus to the doubles, where she is teaming up with Hailey Baptiste.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com