MANILA – Filipino wildcard Alexandra “Alex” Eala suffered a 1-6, 1-6 defeat against 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria of Germany in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain.

It was the second loss of the 17-year-old to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 66 following her 2-6, 2-6 opening ouster from the Thailand Open in January.

In the first match on Court 5 of Caja Mágica on Wednesday, Eala and Maria exchanged service breaks until the 35-year-old German broke again to lead at 2-1.

Three-time WTA titlist Maria fought off break points and firmly held serve for a 3-1 lead after going back and forth at deuce with the reigning US Open Juniors winner and World No. 267.

As she was serving to stay in the set at 1-5, Eala reached 30-0 but was broken for the fourth time on Maria’s first set point, 1-6.

• Wildcard Alex Eala gets rematch with Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria in Madrid Open

In the second set, Maria zoomed to 3-0 with a forehand crosscourt passing shot fired at 40-30.

Eala managed to win the fourth game, 1-3, after her opponent hit a forehand long.

Maria quickly recovered with a love service hold, then broke once more to serve for the match at 5-1.

The German went on to earn three match points, one of which Eala saved via a forehand overhead winner.

Maria then forced a backhand volley error from the Filipino teenager to conclude the match at 6-1.

The German ace will clash with 28th seed and World No. 32 Bernarda Pera of the United States in the second round.

Eala, a two-time International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles champion, debuted at the Madrid Open last year as a qualifying wild card recipient who lost in the first round to 11th seed Anna Bondar of Hungary.

The Rafa Nadal Academy (RNA) player made her maiden main draw appearance this year after receiving a wild card for the 21st edition of the Spanish WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 event.

Spotted at the player’s box on Wednesday beside Eala’s father, Mike, was RNA Head of Academy Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of 22-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal.

• Alex Eala's 2023 goals: WTA Tour and senior high graduation

Alex has been training at RNA in Nadal’s hometown of Mallorca since 2018 after she and her older brother, Miko, were awarded scholarships.

Miko, 20, is now playing in the United States NCAA Division 1 for Pennsylvania State University.

The two-time ITF juniors singles winner made his debut on the ITF Men’s Tennis Tour in 2022.

Alex, the girls’ doubles winner at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 Roland Garros, is set to graduate from senior high school in June.

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