Eala tapers off, drops W60 Madrid final

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala missed out on winning her potential third pro title, bowing to home bet Marina Bassols Ribera with a tough 4-6, 5-7 defeat in the finale of the W60 Madrid yesterday at the Club Deportivo Brezo Osuna in Spain.

Ranged against another higher-ranked opponent in WTA No. 213 and 14th seed Ribera, Eala fumbled and ran out of steam despite a momentum from hot victories in the earlier rounds.

Eala, WTA No. 413, dropped a close first set but came back with a bang for a 5-0 lead in the second salvo only to falter and surrender the next seven games marred by five double faults for the runner-up finish.

It was a massive collapse for the Filipina ace after finding no trouble dispatching WTA No. 182 Jaimee Fourlis of Australia, 6-1, 6-4, and No. 333 Katherine Sebov of Canada, 6-2, 6-1, on her way to the finals.

She smothered Bulgaria’s Lia Karatancheva, 6-4, 6-4, and Chile’s Daniela Seguel, 6-1, 6-2, in the first two rounds before notching a come-from-behind win against another Spanish contender in Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers, 0-6, 6-2, 7-5, to make the quarters.

That was the only match where Eala dropped a set in the elite tourney prior to falling at the hands of Ribera in straight sets.