MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ Alex Eala yesterday withdrew from the ITF women’s Monastir Leg II— her second tournament as a pro — due to the COVID-19 scare.
Eala, 14, pulled out upon the instruction of the Rafa Nadal Academy, where she is a scholar, and was asked to go straight to Mallorca in Spain to avoid airport lockdown due to the pandemic threat.
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She was supposed to play 23-year-old Croatian Tea Jandric in the opening round.
At press time, Eala, an Australian Open Juniors doubles champion, was scheduled to fly to Frankfurt, Germany before taking a connecting flight to the Spanish island.
In her first game as a pro, Eala downed Venezuelan Nadia Echeverria Alam in the Monastir Leg I for her first pro victory but couldn’t sustain her form in dropping a heartbreaking three-set defeat to Swiss Nina Stadler.