Tennis: Alex Eala bows to Parks, exits Australian Open

January 20 ------ Filipina tennis star Alex Eala made an early exit from the Australian Open. The 20-year-old absorbed a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Alycia Parks of the United States in their first round encounter in Melbourne.

The match, watched by a capacity crowd in Court 6, marked Eala's debut in the Australian Open. She gave the Filipino fans plenty to cheer about in the opening set, when she utilized a variety of shots and pounced on Parks' errors to zoom to a 6-0 victory. But Eala would win just five games the rest of the way, as Parks adjusted and troubled the Filipina with her serve.

Eala showed her trademark grit in erasing an early 3-0 deficit in the second set, racking up three straight games to tie the frame. But Parks regained control, benefiting from Eala's errors to take the lead. She then fired back-to-back aces to take the set, 6-3, and send the match to a decider. It was back-and-forth in the early stages of the third, with Eala holding her serve to trail 2-3. But she fell prey to unforced errors in the ensuing games and allowed Parks to get back in control, 5-2.

Eala looked poised to save a match point, forcing deuce on a Parks double fault and getting to break point when the American sent her forehand return into the net. But she couldn't complete the comeback, committing another error before Parks fired a forehand winner to reach match point. Another error by Eala wrapped up the match in the American's favor after an hour and 56 minutes.

The world No. 49 previously made her debut in the French Open and the Wimbledon in 2025, where she also made first round exits. Eala claimed her first win at a Grand Slam in the US Open, beating Clara Tauson, before bowing out in the second round. Parks, currently No. 99 in the world, will play either Karolina Muchova or Jaqueline Cristian in the second round.

Ahead of the match, Eala had expressed her excitement for her Australian debut, which came on the heels of a strong campaign in the ASB Classic and the Kooyong Classic. "It feels great. I'm super excited. You know, coming in as a main draw player gives a different vibe, apparently with the struggles I've had in the past coming here. Super excited and coming in full force," said Eala last Friday. She reached the semifinals of the ASB Classic then beat 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekić in the Kooyong Classic to earn the Evonne Goolagong Cawley Trophy.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com