Eala ends Madrid tiff as quarterfinalist, 60K tourney next

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala finished her stint in the W25 Madrid tournament as quarterfinalists in both the singles and doubles competition.

After upending fourth-seeded Xiaodi You in the Round of 16, Eala lost to doubles partner Alice Robbe in the quarterfinal on Friday, 6(3)-7, 3-6.

Eala lost some momentum after giving up the opening set in a nip-and-tuck affair.

The 17-year-old saved a set point to force the tiebreak, 6-all.

She also had things knotted up at 3-3 in the tiebreak. But lost steam as Robbe, seeded 8th in the tournament, scored four points in a row to take the 1-0 set lead.

The close loss seemed to irk Eala as she gave up five straight games in Set 2 to be on the verge of the sweep at Robbe's hands, 0-5.

But she would string together three games in a row of her own to cut the deficit, 3-5.

Robbe would not let the match get away from her, though, as she broke Eala's serve in Game 9 to take the victory and move on to the semifinal.

In women's doubles, Eala and Robbe ended their stint last Wednesday, losing to Zoe Hives and Katherine Sebov, 0-6, 4-6.

Next for Eala, who won three bronzes in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi last May, is the W60 tournament also in Madrid.