Alex Eala of the Philippines was edged out by No. 8 seed Alice Robbe of France, 6-7(3), 3-6, in the quarterfinals of the W25 Madrid tournament in Spain on Friday.

Eala and Robbe, who partnered in the doubles draw for a quarterfinal result, were the first to battle it out on Court 13 of Ciudad de la Raqueta.

WTA World No. 331 Robbe, 22, was the first to break serve in their quarterfinal for a 4-2 lead.

Eala, the 17-year-old WTA World No. 419, answered with a break and service hold to catch up at 4-4.

They continued to hold serve until they reached 6-6, with Eala saving a set point in the 12th game, and then headed into a tiebreak.

A forehand winner from Robbe gave her a 3-1 lead, but a backhand error followed by a netted forehand from the French allowed Eala to level at 3-3.

Robbe went on to win the next four points to take the first set, 7-6(3), converting her first of three set points after Eala committed a smash error.

In the second set, Robbe gained a 2-0 edge after saving two break points.

The French netter extended her lead to 5-0, courtesy of two double faults by the Filipino teen.

Eala, a Rafa Nadal Academy player, broke serve with a backhand cross-court winner as Robbe was serving for the match.

She held serve then broke again to be at 3-5, after Robbe hit a backhand long.

In the ninth game, with Eala on serve, the Filipino was faced with two match points after hitting a backhand error.

Robbe wasted no time in breaking serve, and she secured a slot in the semifinals with the win, 6-3, following a netted forehand from Eala.

While both players had a 1st Serve In of 57 percent, Robbe improved her 2nd Serve In to 91 percent and Eala fell short at 73 percent.

Robbe had no aces and three double faults, while Eala had one ace and eight double faults.

On her way to the quarterfinals, Eala defeated Arina Gabriela Vasilescu of Romania in the first round, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 4 seed Xiaodi You of China in the second round, 6-4, 6-2.

In the doubles draw, Eala and Robbe upset No. 3 seeds Alana Parnaby and Ivana Popovic of Australia in the first round, 6-3, 6-3, and lost to Zoe Hives of Australia and Katherine Sebov of Canada, 0-6, 4-6, in the quarters.

Eala, an International Tennis Federation (ITF) Grand Slam Player Development Programme recipient, has two professional titles on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour.

She bagged her maiden title at the W15 Manacor tourney in Spain in January 2021 and clinched the W25 Chiang Rai championship in Thailand in April.

In the juniors, the former ITF Junior Player Grants Programme recipient won the girls’ doubles titles at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 Roland Garros.

• Tennis: Alex Eala into W25 Madrid QF after upset of No. 4 seed
• Tennis: Alex Eala powers through to W25 Madrid 2nd round

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