Filipino tennis star Alex Eala has bowed out in the second round of her maiden Wimbledon appearance on July 8 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London.
The tournament No. 3 seeded duo comprising Eala and Indonesian Priska Nugroho suffered a shock defeat to Swiss Chelsea Fontenel and American Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 4-6, 11-9, in the second round of the girls doubles event.
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Eala and Nugroho were the reigning Australian Open girls doubles champions.
The Swiss-American duo of Fontenel and Krueger outlasted Eala and Nugroho in the tiebreak to oust the reigning Australian Open girls doubles champions.
The players also had to deal with a compressed schedule after many games were cancelled on July 6 due to bad weather.
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Earlier, Eala had made history in the 2020 French Open by becoming the first Filipino in 35 years — since Felix Barrientos in the 1985 Wimbledon tournament — to make the last four of a Grand Slam juniors singles event.
Eala, at 15 years of age, had become a pro titlist in the women’s $15,000 tournament in Manacor, Spain at the start of the year. (AW)