Alex Eala falls to Belgian in Round 2 of W25 pro tourney

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Alex Eala’s run in the 2020 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria professional tennis tournament came to an end after losing to Lara Salden from Belgium, 0-6, 6-2, 2-6, in their second-round matchup.

Fresh off an upset against the more experienced Francesca Jones who ranked 241 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Eala saw herself crumble in the hands of a more technical player in Salden.

The Belgian tennis star capitalized on Eala’s service errors after committing an unfamiliar seven double fault tallies, a very rare sight to see in the Filipina ace’s game.

Also, Salden’s variety of offensive arsenal was able to match Eala’s baseline power game, edging her in the points won department, 78-58.

The world no. 2 ranked juniors’ player in the girls division will hope to bounce back in the next professional tournaments she will join in December after the loss.

It was Eala’s debut in her first W25 professional tournament and was able to put up a valiant fight against players older and more experienced than her, a thing her coaching staff is happy about heading back to the Rafael Nadal tennis academy.