Filipina tennister Alexandra Eala faltered in her Strasbourg Open debut after absorbing a 6-3, 5-7, 3-6 upset against Ukrainian qualifier Oleksandra Oliynykova at the Tennis Club de Strasbourg in France late Monday night (Manila time).
Eala’s costly blunders in the endgame spelled the difference as the world No. 38 fell at the hands of the gutsy No. 66 in the grueling Round of 32 match that lasted for almost three hours.
The 20-year-old Eala committed a total of 48 unforced errors against the 25-year-old Oliynykova’s 40 in their first career encounter at the WTA 500-level tournament.
It was a stinging early exit for the Pinay lefty ace as the Strasbourg tilt served as her final tuneup for her second main draw appearance in the prestigious French Open starting on May 24.
Despite the defeat, Eala, who recently climbed four notches up from No. 42 in the latest WTA rankings, took €11,309 or P800,000 in prize money.
Eala and Oliynykova battled back and forth in the first six games of the first set until the Filipina netter snapped seven deuces to make a fourth service hold and broke the Ukrainian’s serve with a blazing return for a 5-3 lead.
The Rafa Nadal Academy graduate then made sure to wrap up the opener in 57 minutes as she pierced through a forehand winner on the third set point.
Eala came back swinging from 0-4 down in the second set, picking up three straight games before tying the knot at 5-all. Oliynykova, however, took the last two games to forge the first decider of the event.
The SEA Games gold winner seized a 3-2 cushion in the deciding set as she held her serve after eight deuces in the fourth game and Oliynykova made an error in the fifth.
But Eala seemed to lose steam and composure down the crucial stretch, hitting multiple wide shots that allowed Oliynykova to end the taxing match with four consecutive game victories.
With the Roland Garros on the horizon, Eala now needs to regain her bearings following a quite uninspired run on clay.
In her buildup for the Grand Slam of the clay swing, Eala only managed to reach as far as the third round, which she did in the Italian Open last week. She suffered early exits in the Linz Open in Austria (second round), Stuttgart Open in Germany (first round), and Madrid Open in Spain (second round) last month.
Eala is also set to compete in the French Open doubles with world No. 9 Victoria Mboko of Canada.
