MANILA, Philippines – By this time, Alex Eala probably had just about enough of former Wimbledon semifinalist and 2022 WTA Comeback Player of the Year Tatjana Maria.
The world No. 153 Filipina suffered her fourth straight defeat at the hands of the world No. 99 German, 7-5, 6-2, in the round of 16 of the 2024 WTA Guadalajara 125 Open on Wednesday, September 4 (Thursday, September 5, Philippine time).
Prior to their encounter this week at the Panamerican Tennis Center in Mexico, Eala had never won a set against the 37-year-old Maria, losing to the German three times in 2023.
That trend carried over to Mexico.
Maria, who ranked a career-high 42nd in the world in January this year, and who, just last week advanced to the second round of the US Open, asserted herself early in the match by jumping to a 5-3 lead in the opening set.
Eala fought back, winning the next two games to level the score at 5-5. But that would be the farthest Maria would allow Eala to get to.
The German veteran broke Eala in the 11th game, then went on to hold serve next to claim the set in 50 hard-fought minutes.
This was the most that Eala had scored in a set against Maria. In their previous encounters, Maria prevailed, 6-2, 6-2, in the WTA Thailand Open; came out dominant again in the WTA Madrid Open in Spain, 6-1, 6-1; and kept her mastery over the Filipina in the WTA 250 Guangzhou Open in China, 6-3, 6-0.
Bu the second set, Maria’s experience and court savvy came into play as she pounced on Eala’s serve every opportunity she got.
Maria broke Eala thrice out of the four times the Filipina was on serve to end the set after just eight games. The match was over after an hour and 35 minutes.
With the second-round exit, Eala failed to equal her best performance in a WTA Challenger event. She made the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 Veneto Open in Italy last June.
Eala was back on court a few hours later as a last-minute alternate in women’s doubles. She partnered with Kimberly Birrell of Australia, but their tandem got booted out by world doubles No. 83 Katarzyna Piter of Poland and world doubles No. 99 Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-4, 6-4. – Rappler.com
