MANILA – Qualifier Alexandra “Alex” Eala of the Philippines exited the Rancho Santa Fe Open in California after suffering a 2-6, 5-7 quarterfinal loss to Marcela Zacarias of Mexico on Friday.

Zacarias, the 28-year-old Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 229, raced to a 5-0 lead by breaking serve with a forehand winner.

In the second game, the Mexican saved seven break points and fended off two more in the fourth game.

WTA World No. 281 Eala, 17, finally got on the scoreboard by getting the break back while Zacarias was serving for the set, and then held serve at deuce to trail at 2-5.

Zacarias earned two set points on serve and claimed the first set, 6-2, after Eala’s forehand missed the line.

The Filipino ace, who won the US Open Juniors girls’ singles title last month, recovered quickly and advanced to 4-2 in the second set with a service break.

She broke once more to be at 5-3 after her forehand down-the-line service return yielded a long backhand.

Eala served for the second set and gained three set points, but Zacarias broke to trail at 4-5 with a smashing forehand winner.

The Mexican went on to win the next three games, converting her second match point in the 12th game, 7-5, after Eala hit a long backhand service return.

Their quarterfinal clash at Court 2 of the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club, marked by lengthy rallies and numerous deuces, lasted 2 hours and 16 minutes.

The Rancho Santa Fe Open was the first $80,000 event that Eala joined on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s World Tennis Tour.

Her W80 debut kicked off with qualifying victories against Deniza Marcinkevica of Latvia, 6-1, 6-3, and Alana Smith of the United States, 6-0, 6-0.

From being the No. 2 seed in qualifying, Eala asserted herself in the main draw with wins over American wildcard Dalayna Hewitt in the first round, 6-1, 2-6, 6-0, and Canadian Katherine Sebov in the second round, 7-6(6), 6-2.

Save for her successful US Open Juniors stint in September, the Rafa Nadal Academy scholar has been competing on the women’s circuit since January.

The 2021 W15 Manacor and 2022 W25 Chiang Rai champion will next see action at the W60 Hamburg in Germany slated from October 17 to 23, as Eala is entered in the tournament’s acceptance list as of October 8.

• Alex Eala books quarterfinal spot at Rancho Santa Fe Open
• Alex Eala bests American opponent to begin Rancho Santa Fe Open

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