By Tracy Cabrera
FILDERSTADT, Baden-Württemberg — Good fortune eluded World No. 45 Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala as she failed this time to make a dent in the opening round of 32 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 Stuttgart Open, losing to Canadian standout Leylah Fernandez, 1-6, 4-6.
Despite the loss, Ealabagged €11,309 (approximately ₱798,000), significantly raising her career earnings to more than US$1.86 million in prize money.
The Filipina star missed an opportunity to climb the WTA rankings with the one-sided defeat. in her opening match at the indoor clay court of the 8,000-capacity Grand Porsche Arena in Filderstadt, 13 kilometers south of Stuttgart.
Eala was broken twice as Fernandez, ranked No. 25, raced to a 5-0 lead and closed out the opening set in dominant fashion. The Canadian player of mixed Filipino-Colombian descent secured two more breaks, surging to a 5-2 advantage in the second set before being broken for the only time while serving for the match.
The country’s pride then saved two match points on her serve at 3-5, but her 23-year-old rival took her second opportunity to serve the match out. In what was her first encounter with fellow left-hander Fernandez, Eala won just 46 of the 109 points.
Eala’s first round exit in Stuttgart has seen her earn $13,211 in prize money and collect a single WTA ranking point. If Eala had won her opening match, she would have collected 60 points—which would have lifted her to a projected ranking of 38th.
Eala is next scheduled to compete at the Madrid Open—the first clay-court WTA 1000 event of the season—which will be held from April 21 to May 3.
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