MANILA – Sixth seed Alex Eala of the Philippines was unable to enter the semifinals of the W40 Palma del Rio in Spain after falling to No. 3 seed Valeria Savinykh of Russia, 4-6, 2-6, on Friday.

The quarterfinal between the 18-year-old Filipino and 32-year-old Russian was the first match on the Asociación de Tenistas Palmeños - Polideportivo Centre Court.

WTA World No. 261 Eala started off strongly with a 2-0 lead by holding serve with an ace and breaking serve at deuce.

After an exchange of service breaks, the reigning US Open Juniors singles winner asserted her dominance at 4-1 by holding serve after saving three break points.

• Tennis: Alex Eala enters quarterfinals of W40 Palma del Rio in Spain

Undeterred, the 243rd-ranked Savinykh caught up to 4-4 by easily holding serve twice and breaking serve to love.

The Russian then gained a break point in the ninth game after the Filipino committed a double fault, and went on to serve for the set at 5-4.

Savinykh, a former World No. 99 with nine ITF women’s singles titles, served out the opening set on her first set point, 6-4.

Eala aimed to bounce back quickly by gaining three game points via an ace and holding serve to love for 1-0.

Savinykh responded by advancing to 3-1 after overcoming deuce in the second game, breaking serve to love, and fighting off two deuces in the fourth game.

• Tennis: Alex Eala claims opener at W40 Palma del Rio in Spain

Eala, a three-time women’s singles winner on the ITF Tour, held serve to inch closer at 2-3, but it turned out to be her last game won in the match.

As Savinykh was serving for a semifinal spot at 5-2, Eala brought the eighth game to deuce before the Russian triumphed on her second match point, 6-2.

After one hour and 39 minutes of play, Savinykh tallied a first serve in percentage of 61% versus the 47% of Eala.

In terms of break points won, Savinykh converted five out of 11 chances while Eala claimed just two out of 10 opportunities.

At the W40 Palma del Rio, Eala defeated Spanish wildcard Lorena Solar Donoso in the opening round, 6-3, 6-2, and Australian Talia Gibson in the second round, 6-3, 6-1.

She then posted her third quarterfinal result of the year following her Final 8 finishes at the W25 Monastir in Tunisia and W25 Madrid in Spain.

At last month’s W25 Yecla tournament in the Spanish region of Murcia, Eala also reached the quarterfinals and proceeded to bag her third ITF crown.

In a video interview hosted by the tournament, Eala was asked about the similarities between the court surfaces at the W40 Palma del Rio and Rafa Nadal Academy (RNA) in Manacor, Mallorca.

“They are a little bit different,” replied the RNA scholar who graduated in June. “I think every week on the tour, you have to adapt to a different court so it doesn’t really matter.”

The 2022 W25 Palma del Rio singles second-round finisher and doubles semifinalist added of the new outdoor hard courts at Asociación de Tenistas Palmeños - Polideportivo, “No bad bounces, nothing to complain about.”

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